Subliminal Messages REWRITTEN
by septasonicxx
Summary: Dani and Malfoy have been enemies ever since first year. What will happen when they discover a necklace which can take them through time and end up uncovering their own future?
1. Passionately

Danielle Monroe, Brianne Pilcher and Jackie Sandon all made their way through the aisle on the train towards the carriage which they had claimed as 'theirs' ever since they arrived in first year and bumped into each other on their first day. They were the best of friends and absolutely inseparable.

A few carriages away from their destination, the three were stopped as a commotion began unfolding in front of them. Dani folded her arms and sighed, tapping her foot impatiently. Bri rolled her eyes and Jackie looked ahead eagerly.

Harry was fuming, although trying to hold it in. Hermione and Ron stood on either side of their friend. Malfoy stood in front of them, his arms folded and a triumphant smirk on his face.

"Leave us alone, Malfoy." Hermione snapped.

"No flashy comeback?" he teased.

"'Scuse me! Coming through!" Dani said loudly, raising her arm and walking straight ahead. Harry stepped back slightly and Malfoy frowned, looking at her as she and her friends got closer. As she passed in front of him their eyes met in a glare of absolutely fury. Malfoy dropped his gaze first.

"Blood traitor." he mumbled.

"What did you say!?" In an instant Dani had shoved Malfoy backwards against the wall and had one arm pressed against his neck. "Say it again, Malfoy!" she yelled.

"Dani, don't!" Bri called, biting her lip nervously. They'd only just started the new school year and already those two were at it again. It was almost as bad as Malfoy's arguments with Harry.

"Blood traitor." Malfoy spat.

Dani gave a small sadistic smile, bringing her knee up to slam him between the legs. He buckled in pain and she stepped back.

"Say it one more time, please." Dani said in a sickly sweet voice.

"Anyone would think you like the sound of my voice." Malfoy muttered, straightening up again and wincing.

"Oh, dream on." Dani said, a look of disgust on her face now. Malfoy raised an eyebrow and smirked, eyeing her up and down.

"You know, you look pretty good today." he commented. Dani raised an eyebrow at that and rolled her eyes, shaking her head lightly.

"Go to your carriage, Malfoy." she said.

"You know, that's a good idea. That way I can kiss Katie. _Passionately._" He smirked again. Katie, or Katielle Monroe, was Dani's identical twin sister. Dani's eyes widened before she squeezed them shut and shuddered.

"Ew. Um, go ahead." she waved a hand at him and stepped back to her friends. Malfoy chuckled and walked off.

"Dani, thanks." Harry said honestly. "He makes me so mad sometimes."

"It's okay, he makes me mad too." Dani laughed.

"Seriously though, thanks." Harry said. He smiled slightly and then walked off with Hermione and Ron to find a carriage. Dani turned to Bri and Jackie, grinning again.

"So! To our carriage?" she asked, putting her arms out. Jackie nodded enthusiastically and took her arm. Bri rolled her eyes but smiled, taking her other arm. The three of them continued on their way and soon made it inside their carriage.

Dani sat down next to the window and looked out at the platform where other students were hurriedly making their way to the train and saying last goodbyes to family members. Jackie sat beside her and Bri sat across from them.

Dani's hair was light brown with some blonde streaks flicked through it and her eyes were blue, Jackie had brown hair and blue eyes and Bri had blonde hair and green eyes.

"Hey, is that Tallulah and Serafina?" Bri asked, leaning forward in her seat slightly and pointing to where two girls stood holdings the hands of a young man. Dani looked to where her friend was pointing and nodded.

"Yeah, that's them." Dani agreed. They were her two sisters with her brother, Vladimir. The rest of her family was on the train, too.

Altogether, Dani had eight siblings. Three brothers and five sisters. In order from oldest to youngest their names were Vladimir, Katielle, Falk, Rudy, Izefia, Isadora, Tallulah and Serafina.

Serafina jerked on her brothers hand and pointed to the window where she could see Dani. She began waving excitedly and once Tallulah spotted her she waved too. Dani grinned and waved back at them. Vladimir did not wave.

With a slight jerk, the train began moving off.

"I wonder what this year will hold for us." Jackie said thoughtfully.

"I know! I can't believe it's our second last year!" Dani exclaimed. They were all sixteen and in their sixth year, having been there already for five years. Everything they had experienced throughout the years had been experienced together and they knew all or most of each others secrets.

"Freaky." Bri commented.

"I need to get a boyfriend." Jackie whined. Bri and Dani laughed but nodded their heads.

"We all do." Dani said. "Jackie, we'll hook you up with Oliver. Bri, uh... do you want to date Harry?" Dani ducked as Bri threw her wand at her friend. "Careful! You could kill me!" Dani screamed.

"It's your own fault! Trust me, I would never date Harry." Bri said firmly.

"Fine, fine." Dani giggled. "I'll have Harry then. But who do you want?"

"Bri, you could go out with Seamus!" Jackie teased. Bri brought her arm up but then dropped it again as she realised she had nothing to throw any more.

"Dani, could you be a darl?" she asked sweetly.

"Sure!" Dani grinned. "I'll let you assault Jackie any day!" She handed Bri's wand to her and Jackie winced, curling into a ball with her eyes squeezed shut.

"I don't wanna die..." she muttered.

"I'm joking, Jackie!" Bri laughed, pocketing her wand. Jackie relaxed and giggled.

"We should change into our robes." Dani suggested slowly. Jackie and Bri nodded in agreement and the three of them grabbed their stuff, heading to the bathrooms to change.


	2. You're So Beautiful

When the train arrived at the Hogwarts castle and everyone got off, the three friends walked right up and in, knowing the way as they'd been here multiple times in the past. Jackie was scanning the crowd of other students for Oliver, her heart beating fast as she thought about seeing him again after such long holidays.

"Dani?" The three all turned to see Katie, and Dani moved away from her two friends slightly to speak with her.

"What is it?" she asked.

She and her twin were not very friendly at all. In fact, Dani wasn't very friendly with anyone in her family except Tallulah and Serafina because they hadn't come to the school yet. This was because everyone in Dani's family except for her had been sorted into Slytherin and she had been sorted into Gryffindor.

"Leave Malfoy alone." Katie said simply.

"Hey, he was harassing my friends!" Dani retorted.

"So what? Dani, he's my boyfriend. Show some respect." Katie folded her arms and gave Dani a look that made her so angry. Who was she to boss her around?

"Why don't you ask _him_ to show some respect?" Dani snapped. "I don't care if you're a Slytherin, Katie. You're still my sister, and he's not good enough for you! He's a jerk!"

"He is not!" Katie yelled back.

"Yes he is! He flirts with every girl that looks hot! Why do you let him do that to you?" Dani asked.

"It's not like I have a choice!" Katie shot back. "If I want to keep him, I can't complain! Keep your nose out of it!" Spinning around, Katie ran off into the crowd and disappeared.

Dani sighed and walked back over to Bri and Jackie. The two of them gave her sympathetic looks and then they all made their way to the Great Hall together. They sat down at the Gryffindor table, all in the same house, and listened as Professor Mcgonagall began reading out names of first years to be sorted.

"I wonder what Tallulah will be sorted into next year." Dani murmured thoughtfully. "Probably Slytherin."

"Hey, what about Serafina? I'm sure she'll get into Gryffindor." Bri said, trying to cheer her friend up a bit.

"Yeah, but by the time she's old enough to come here I'll have finished." Dani sighed.

"Do you guys think Oliver will notice me this year?" Jackie asked suddenly. Of course, she always asked completely random questions.

"Maybe. But I still think you should trip in front of him." Dani shrugged.

"No way! I don't want him to think I'm stupid." Jackie said stubbornly.

"Then you'll be hiding a secret from him for a _long_ time." Dani giggled.

"Shut up! You guys are so mean!" Jackie pouted, but soon it gave way to a smile. Bri rolled her eyes, also smiling.

Soon the sorting ended and Dumbledore said his speech, ending it with having the food appear on the tables as usual. Dani dug in eagerly, chatting to Bri and Jackie all the while and laughing at some of the things they said.

"Oh my gosh!" Dani suddenly said. "Guys, guys. I've just thought of an incredibly amazing idea."

"What is it?" Jackie asked excitedly.

"We should put itching powder in Malfoy's bed!" Dani squealed quietly.

"Dani, is that such a good idea?" Bri asked, raising an eyebrow. Dani feigned horror at her friend saying that and then laughed again.

"Please?" she begged.

"It's your funeral." Bri shrugged, trying to hide her grin.

"I knew you'd agree!" Dani grinned. "So, I'll pretend to be Katie so I can get into the Slytherin common room and somehow I'll get into his room and put itching powder in his bed. This is awesome! I can't wait!"

"You should go now!" Jackie hissed enthusiastically. Dani opened her mouth to agree and then paused.

"Uh, maybe not." she said.

"If she went now she wouldn't get in," Bri said to Jackie. "She doesn't know the password and there'll be no one to sweet talk into telling her."

"Exactly!" Dani laughed.

"I'm always the logical thinking one out of us, aren't I?" Bri asked, smiling and pretending to be full-of-it.

"Yep, you are!" Dani nodded.

After dinner when everyone was allowed to leave the Great Hall and do whatever they wanted for another hour before they had to go to bed, Dani slipped away from her friends and headed to the Slytherin common room.

"Katie?" Dani turned to face one of the Slytherin guys as she reached the door, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes?" she asked.

"Malfoy's been asking where you are." he said. "I think he's up in his room."

"Oh, thanks." Dani said. She paused, and then moved aside slightly to let the guy go before her. She added a smile, and he grinned back at her before moving ahead and saying the password, stepping through.

Dani quickly put a hand out and caught the door before it shut, walking in and then letting it go. She felt positively sneaky.

Heading over to the staircase leading to the boy's dormitories, Dani couldn't help but smile to herself. She reached the top and look around at the doors, trying to figure out which one would lead to Malfoy's room.

She had no idea.

Just then, Crabbe walked out from on of the rooms. He stopped as he saw her and quickly averted his eyes, embarrassed. Dani reminded herself she was Katie in a short moment before she batted her eyelids at him.

"Crabbe, which room is Draco's?" she asked sweetly. Crabbe looked up at her, shocked she was talking to him, and pointed to one of the doors. "Could you show me?" Dani continued in her sweet little voice. Crabbe nodded and walked into the room he had pointed out.

"He sleeps there." Crabbe said, gesturing at one of the beds and then shifting awkwardly.

"Thanks so much!" Dani said. Crabbe muttered something and walked out. Dani grinned and pulled out a small bottle from her pocket. She tightened her fingers around the lid, about to untwist it, when the door opened again and someone walked in. She hurriedly pocketed it again and spun around to face the intruder.

"Katie? What are you doing?" Malfoy asked, frowning slightly.

"Uh, someone said you were looking for me." Dani mumbled.

"Oh, yeah." Malfoy said slowly, as if only just remembering that he had in fact been looking for her before.

"So that's why I'm here." Dani nodded.

"But, why are you standing so close to my bed?" Malfoy asked. "I'm not that skinny, I can't hide in the sheets."

"Oh no! I didn't think you could!" Dani winced slightly at the way her words came out and then tried to make up for it somehow. "I was just admiring the embroidery on your sheets."

"You..." Malfoy raised an eyebrow and looked past her to his bed, his eyes tracing the edges of his sheets and then going back to her face. "There is no embroidery on my sheets, Katie."

Dani spun around to stare at the bed and her heart sank as she saw the truth. She took a deep breath and turned to face him again.

"Sorry! I uh, didn't realise!" she giggled.

"It's okay." Malfoy shrugged. "Here," he reached for her and in the blink of an eye Dani found herself enveloped by Malfoy's arms. "I bet you missed me, didn't you?" he murmured against her hair.

"Oh, yeah." Dani mumbled in response. How was she going to get herself out of this mess? "What did you want me for? You said you were looking for me..."

"Just wanted to look at you." he mumbled.

Dani slowly turned to a statue in his arms, not believing what she'd just heard. Malfoy wanted to look at her? Sure, he thought she was Katie, but that meant every time he had joked about her, Dani, looking pretty he was probably telling the truth.

"Awkward..." Dani muttered, hoping he hadn't heard her.

"What?" Malfoy pushed back slightly and looked down at her. He looked slightly confused at first, but then as he stared at her face his expression changed to one of peaceful happiness. Dani was now confused. "You're so beautiful."

Dani swallowed stiffly as Malfoy trailed his fingers down the side of her face. What was she supposed to do? Tell him she was Dani and have him possibly kill her?

"Um..."

"What is it?" he murmured, smiling slightly.

"I... it's just that..." Dani floundered about in her mind, trying to come up with something to say. "I don't like it when you flirt with other girls." she burst out, shoving him away and rushing out of the room.

"Katie!" he called, only managing to get out in time to see her running out the door of the common room. "Darn it." he muttered, turning and walking back into his room.

He'd never realised his flirting with other girls upset Katie so much. Why hadn't she said something before?


	3. I Won't Bite You

"You will never guess what happened to me." Dani said as she sat down on her bed and curled up, hugging her knees to her chest.

"Then put us out of our misery and tell us." Bri said, rolling her eyes as she brushed her hair. Dani nodded slowly, then shook her head, then nodded again, then shook her head. Jackie raised an eyebrow and she and Bri shared a confused look.

"I got hugged by Malfoy."

"What!?" Bri and Jackie both burst out at the same time.

"It was so incredibly weird. I thought I was going to combust." Dani shuddered. Jackie giggled and sat down on the edge of her bed to face Dani. She was holding her toy moose in one hand.

"How did it happen?" she asked.

"Well, I went to put itching powder in his bed and was pretending to be Katie so then he walked in and I still pretended to be Katie and then he hugged me thinking I was Katie." Dani shrugged.

"Oh my gosh." Bri commented.

"Ya-huh." Dani nodded in agreement.

"So then what?" Jackie asked, eager for more information.

"Uh, I panicked a lot but got away I guess." Dani shrugged. "It was just so weird! He even said I was beautiful! And he touched my face!"

"Not with his lips I hope!" Bri gasped.

"No, his fingers." Dani shook her head as she corrected her friend.

"You must've been terrified." Jackie said. Dani nodded, staring off into the distance as she thought about what had happened. Then she shook her head to clear her thoughts.

"We should get some sleep."

"Yeah, we should."

The three girls all got ready for bed and slipped under their covers, turning their lamps off and drifting off to peaceful sleep.

In the morning, Dani was the first one to wake up in their dorm. She threw a pillow at Bri, who once she had woken then threw the same pillow at Jackie. This resulted in all three of them being awake, so they made their way down to breakfast together.

"Eurgh, I hate mornings." Dani growled as she sat down at the Gryffindor table.

"Same." Jackie agreed, leaning her chin on the palm of her hand. Bri sat across from the two and nodded.

"Hey, Dani?"

Dani turned to see Oliver Wood and smiled. She moved over so he could sit down, and he then found himself in between her and Jackie, who was busying herself with eating so she wouldn't die.

"What's up?" Dani asked, heaping some food onto her plate as she spoke.

"Quidditch practice is at lunch. Don't forget to come, alright?" he said, a teasing smile on his face.

"No problem." Dani laughed. "You don't have to worry about that."

"Good." Oliver chuckled. "See you round then." He stood up and went to join his friends, and Jackie turned to Dani with her mouth wide open.

"Oh my gosh I love you!" she said, hugging her friend tightly. Bri laughed as she watched.

"I know you do! But come on, of course I wasn't going to pass up that opportunity to have him sit next to you!" Dani laughed.

"You're so awesome!" Jackie giggled.

A while later Dani, Bri and Jackie were all walking to their next class. They walked into the room and Bri and Jackie sat next to each other up the back. Dani sat at the desk in front of them and they all began chatting away as they pulled out their books and other required items.

"Hey, gorgeous."

Dani spun around to see a boy with brown hair slipping into the seat beside her. She stared at him as he put an arm around her shoulders, smiling at her.

"Excuse me?" she asked.

"Uh, Katie? Are you feeling okay?" he asked slowly. Dani breathed a sigh of relief that what had just happened had not been meant to happen to her.

"I'm Katie's twin sister, Dani." she explained. The boy took his arm back quickly and raised an eyebrow.

"I didn't know she had a twin." he said.

"Yeah, well. She does." Dani shrugged.

"I see." he mumbled. "Well, sorry about that. Katie's my girlfriend."

Dani paused in what she was doing and slowly turned to look at Bri and Jackie, who had been watching with amused expressions and now had wide eyes. She turned back to the stranger again.

"She's what?"

"My girlfriend."

"You've got to be kidding."

"Uh, I'm not."

"Wow. Okay." Dani shrugged and turned back to her work. Katie had gotten herself into a very sticky situation.

"By the way, I'm Dayn Masten." he extended a hand and reluctantly Dani shook it.

"You kinda know who I am." Dani shrugged.

"Yeah." Dayn nodded with a smile. "So where's Katie, do you know?" he asked.

"No idea. And I don't care." Dani turned back to her books. Dayn sighed and kept looking at her, making her feel as if her personal space was being invaded.

"You, move." Dani and Dayn both looked up to see Malfoy staring at Dayn.

"Sorry, no?" Dayn said, frowning. Why would he want to move in the first place? Besides, he'd just made a new friend. Sort of.

"I told you to move, so you move." Malfoy said. Without another word he reached forward and grabbed Dayn, shoving him out of the seat and sitting there instead. Dani stiffened. What on earth was he playing at?

"Hey, if she's your girlfriend you should have just said and I would've moved, okay?" Dayn snapped angrily.

"Okay, then. She's my girlfriend! Steer clear of her!" Malfoy shot back.

Dani fought the urge to turn around and look at Bri and Jackie. Perhaps pretending to be Katie again could work to her advantage, right? Then Malfoy slipped an arm around her waist and pulled her closer to him and she almost died on the spot.

"Um, Malfoy?" Dani said quietly.

"Why are you calling me Malfoy?" he asked, turning his piercing gaze to look at her.

"Because that's what your enemies usually call you." Dani said.

In an instant Malfoy had shoved her away from him and stood up, a look of total disgust on his face.

"You're Dani?" he spat.

"Well I didn't want to ruin the moment... but yeah." Dani grinned.

Malfoy stared at her, his eyes wide in shock. He'd put an arm around her. He'd thought she was Katie. He'd announced that she was his girlfriend.

"Uh, sorry." he mumbled pathetically.

"What?" Dani asked.

"Forget it." Malfoy glared at her and walked off to another desk, sitting down.

"Malfoy, you know if you really want to sit next to me I won't bite you." Dani called, giggling.

"As if anyone would want to sit next to you!" he shot back.

"Malfoy, Monroe, detention."

"No way! Not fair!" Dani whined. First day back at classes and she already had a detention. What a lovely reputation she was getting.

Dani heard someone snort behind her and she turned around to see Jackie covering her mouth with both hands and with tears streaming from her eyes. Bri was staring at the desk with a smile on her face, also finding the situation pretty funny.

Seeing her two friends like that, Dani couldn't help it. She burst out laughing as well.


	4. Only On Weekdays

Dani walked with her broom in one hand towards the quidditch pitch. As was custom on the first day back at Hogwarts, the Gryddindor quidditch team was allowed to practice at lunch. She loved this as being on a broom was one of her favourite things to do.

"Hey, Dani! Hurry up!" Oliver called as he flew past her on his broom. Dani laughed and quickly mounted her own, zooming up to join the rest of her team in the sky.

She was a chaser, so she hurriedly flew straight to the other team member holding the quaffle and snatched it away from them triumphantly. She flew towards the goal hoops quickly and then threw the quaffle with all her might. It sailed through the middle hoop and she whooped, flying back to high-five Oliver.

"Come on guys, let's get more serious!" Oliver shouted. He glanced over to see one of the team wrestling with a bludger on the ground and grinned to himself.

"How much more serious can we get?" Dani called. Oliver laughed back and flew over to the goal hoops, being Keeper.

Dani raced around on her broom, stealing the quaffle every moment she got and even getting it past Oliver a few times. She was having so much fun.

"Watch out!" One of the others on her team, a beater, flew close to her and swung their bat. Dani watched as the bludger that had been heading for her sailed off in the other direction.

"That was close!" she commented, giggling.

"Dani! Dani, move!" Oliver's voice reached her from where he was and she turned just in time to see another bludger heading for her. She screamed and tried to dodge it, but it smashed right into her ribs and took her off her broom, hurtling towards the ground.

However, the hard impact with the ground that she had been expecting did not come. Instead, when she looked around dizzily to see what had happened, she saw that she was now in the arms of Draco Malfoy.

Again.

"Monroe? Do you always randomly fall from the sky?" he asked, seemingly disgusted.

"Only on weekdays." she murmured, her eyes quickly falling closed again. Malfoy frowned, and was then suddenly surrounded by the rest of the Gryffindor quidditch team.

He felt strangely vulnerable and outnumbered.

"Is she okay? We've got to get her to the hospital wing!" Oliver said, stepping forward.

"What happened?" Malfoy asked.

"If you'd been watching you would've seen! She got smashed by a bludger, that's what happened!" Oliver snapped.

"Well here, you take her." Malfoy said, offering Dani to him.

"No, you should carry her. If we move her too much she could get hurt even more." Oliver said, shaking his head.

"You're joking." Malfoy said, staring at Oliver in disbelief.

"I'm not. Now come on." Oliver and the rest of the team began marching Malfoy towards the hospital wing. It was unbelievably strange. If anyone had been watching they probably would have been puzzled by it for weeks. Who'd ever thought of Draco Malfoy helping out Gryffindor's anyway? Truth be told, why didn't he just drop Dani on the ground and storm off?

He himself didn't even know why he was doing this, but they arrived at the hospital wing soon enough and Madame Pomfrey quickly set about healing Dani. Altogether it probably only took about ten minutes.

"Well, that wasn't very fun." Dani mumbled as she stood up again and stretched. She looked around and smiled to see her entire team in the room. "Aww, you guys all came to see if I'd be alright?" she teased.

"Actually, we sort of all came to make sure Malfoy didn't kill you on the way here." Oliver said, grinning.

"Oh yeah. Did he run off already?" Dani asked, glancing around the room.

"As soon as he put you down he left." Oliver said.

"Good." Dani said, nodding slowly. "He creeps me out."

"Come on! Let's go keep playing now that you're better!" George piped up, an eager grin on his face.

"Yeah, let's go!" Fred agreed.

Dani giggled and took off out the door, racing her team mates back to the quidditch pitch to continue playing their game.

That night, Dani headed down to the dungeons for her detention. She thought it was hilariously cliché that detention was held in the dungeon. It truly made her feel a bit like a prisoner at times. What would the Slytherins feel like? Having their _common room_ in the dungeons.

She walked into the room and immediately saw Malfoy sitting at one of the chairs. Putting her nose in the air, she stalked right past him and went to sit at a table a fair distance from him. As she went by, she heard him scoff quietly.

Professor Snape was already up the front with a list of names of who was on detention and Dani watched him cross off two before putting the list away. She glanced around the room and frowned. Were they the only ones on detention? Surely not...

"Mr Malfoy, Miss Monroe," Snape drawled, leaning his hands on the desk in front of him. "I want you both to clean this entire room so that it shines. You will not be allowed to use any magic at all."

Malfoy glanced over his shoulder at Dani and she poked her tongue out at him before she could stop herself. She saw him snigger before turning back to face the front.

"The cleaning materials you will be using are here," Snape pointed to some rags and disinfectant on the desk. "You do not leave until the job is done."

Dani let out a loud sigh, but stood and made her way to the front anyway. She grabbed one of the rags, squirted it with some disinfectant and walked over to start cleaning one of the shelves. She knew when Malfoy rose to begin cleaning as well because she could hear the grumbled complaints he was making.

Professor Snape shuffled through some papers on his desk and frowned, obviously not finding what he was looking for. With a sigh, he stood and headed for the door.

"Do not leave. If you do, I will know."

Dani watched as he left and blinked. Then she grinned.

"If you tell on me I'll kick your butt." Dani said as she dropped her cleaning materials and ran to the front of the room to look through the drawers in the desk.

"What are you doing?" Malfoy asked, leaning against the wall and raising one eyebrow.

"Exploring." Dani said simply. "Ah-ha!" She pulled something from the drawer and held it up. It was a necklace.

"Wow. You've discovered treasure." Malfoy said in a monotonous tone.

"Oh, get off my back. It's pretty!" Dani said.

"It's boring." Malfoy murmured, rolling his eyes.

"Well if you can find anything more interesting in this room than this, by all means let me know!" Dani shot back.

"Fine!" Malfoy pushed away from the wall and walked over to a shelf, searching through the contents placed there.

"It's gorgeous..." Dani mumbled as she ran a finger over the gem in the centre of the pendant.

"Gosh, you sound like you're in love or something." Malfoy commented, shaking his head.

"Like you'd know how I sound when I'm in love!" Dani snapped. "Honestly, you- oh my gosh I feel sick." Dani squeezed her eyes shut and turned away from him, buckling over slightly.

Unknown to her, Malfoy's eyes widened at exactly the same moment as he also experienced an intense feeling of sickness.

"Whoa. That was weird." Dani straightened again, feeling fine once more. She turned to look at Malfoy and then hurriedly slammed the drawer shut and literally leapt over the desk as she had heard the door opening and did _not_ want to get caught.

"Mr... Malfoy? Miss Monroe?"

Professor Snape stood in the doorway, a frown on his face as he looked from one to the other.

"What's going on?" came a voice from behind him.

"Uh, Genevieve I think we'll schedule your detention for another night." Snape said, turning to the girl who stood behind him.

"Why? What's going on?" she asked.

Dani stared at the girl with wide eyes. Her hair was the exact same colour as Malfoy's. Was she a first year? She looked too old.

"Ever seen her before?" Dani whispered across to Malfoy. He shook his head.

"Never."

"Genevieve, please leave. You will serve your detention later." Snape said, firmer now than before.

A thud sounded in the room and everyone looked towards one of the cupboards in confusion. Dani's heart-rate sped up. Was there some kind of deadly monster being locked in there? Was it going to escape? Were they all going to die?

"Genevieve if you do not leave in-"

"Okay! I'm going!" The girl glanced at Dani and Malfoy again, lingering.

"You must've seen her somewhere before!" Dani hissed.

"Well I haven't! What about you? Don't you know everything?"

Dani would have replied with a witty comeback, but she became pre-occupied with holding a hand over her mouth and trying not to throw up. As quickly as the feeling had come, it was gone again.

"Alright this is getting annoying." Dani muttered. She looked up and her eyes widened in shock and she took a step back.

"Where are-"

"Where did they go?" Dani asked loudly. "They were right there! Are they dead?"

"Oh for goodness sake, you're such a drama queen!" Malfoy groaned. "Could you for a minute act like a person with a brain?"

"Malfoy! I don't think you quite understand the situation! Professor Snape and the blonde girl have disappeared! Their lives could be in danger!" Dani yelled.

"Monroe..."

"Yeah, I know. They probably just walked out while I had my eyes closed, didn't they?" Dani asked.

"Well, no, but that doesn't mean you have to go all psycho!" Malfoy winced slightly, as if expecting Dani to start screaming again because of what he'd said.

"Oh come on. You got it exactly right! I'm a drama queen, so relax." Dani rolled her eyes.

"Right." Malfoy raised an eyebrow.

The door opened and Professor Snape walked in again, going over to his desk and placing some papers that he had brought with him down. He looked up at the two of them and folded his arms.

"Oh! Whoops." Dani hurriedly over to continue cleaning, slipping the necklace inconspicuously into her pocket. Malfoy sighed and also went to keep cleaning.

After the room had been thoroughly cleaned and Dani had found out that there was no monster in the cupboard and only a lot of empty space, they were allowed to go back to their common rooms.

"Dani!" Jackie ran over to her and hugged her. "That was the longest detention ever recorded in the history of long detentions!" Bri laughed at her over-exaggeration.

"I'm glad you missed me." Dani chuckled. "Anyway, I'm tired. C'mon." Dani headed off towards the stairs leading to the girls dorms and Jackie followed along behind. _Is she holding her moose again?_

"Uh, I'll be there in a minute." Bri said, walking to the lounge in front of the fireplace.

"Is she alright?" Dani whispered to Jackie.

"She's fine. I think she's waiting for someone." Jackie whispered back. Dani's mouth fell open and she wriggled her eyebrows at Jackie.

"We're getting all the goss' tomorrow!" she hissed, running up the stairs quickly. Jackie giggled and ran after her.


	5. The Necklace

Dani groaned as she awoke the next morning, dragging herself out of bed and heading downstairs to the Great Hall for breakfast. She hadn't seen Jackie or Bri in the dormitory, so she figured they were already down there.

Unfortunately, as she was making her way there she ran into someone she had a particular dislike for.

"You look like you've just come from a wrestling match with a mop." Dani commented.

"Like you can talk." Malfoy snapped.

"Argh! Why does this always happen?" Dani groaned, feeling sick again. "Every time I'm with you nowadays I feel like I'm going to vomit."

"Gee, thanks." Malfoy said, quickly hiding the fact that he'd felt it too. What was going on?

"Well, goodbye." Dani said, walking away from him and turning a corner. She quickly took a few steps back again as she had almost run into someone. "Sorry." she muttered.

"Hey, it's you!" Dani looked up to see the girl with blonde hair, Genevieve, who had been at detention last night.

"Yeah, and it's you." Dani replied.

"You disappeared from detention last night!" Genevieve said excitedly. "Do you have an invisibility cloak?"

"Uh, no." Dani said. "And it wasn't me. _You_ disappeared."

"What? No I didn't." The girl shook her head firmly.

"Oh, whatever. It's too early in the morning for me to think about this." Dani turned and walked back around the corner again, literally bumping into Malfoy.

"Watch where you're going!" he said angrily.

"Sorry. 'M sleepy." she said, wiping her eye to add more of an effect to what she'd said.

"I don't care. Get out of my way." Malfoy shoved her aside and she collided with the wall that had been close to begin with.

"Ew, yuck. There's that darn feeling again." she groaned. "Honestly, maybe I'm allergic to you or something."

"Dani!"

"Whoa, don't spring up on me like that!" Dani said, stepping back from where Bri had walked up.

"Are you okay? We were wondering if you ever going to come to breakfast or not." Bri said. Jackie was standing beside her, nodding in agreement.

"I was just coming, no need to fret." Dani shrugged. Jackie grabbed her arm and pulled her close in order to whisper something in her ear.

"What were you doing with Malfoy?" she asked.

"Uh, nothing?" Dani turned and saw Malfoy still standing behind awkwardly and raised an eyebrow at him.

"Don't worry, I'm going." Malfoy spat, walking forward and passing the three of them to go into the Great Hall.

"He's such a prick." Dani said with a roll of her eyes, slipping one hand into her pocket. "Anywho... oh darn!"

"What is it?" Bri asked.

"I uh, forgot to put something back after detention last night." she mumbled, feeling the necklace in her pocket. 

_That means I've got to go back down there... no!_

"Why don't you eat something first?" Jackie urged, gesturing to the doors to the Great Hall.

"Yeah... that's really tempting but I should put this back before I forget again." Dani said, turning to go back down to the dungeons.

"Dani! Eat first!" Bri ordered, grabbing her arm and pulling her back.

"Whoa! Okay! No need to get all angry!" Dani said, turning and walking with her two best friends to get some breakfast.

"So Bri," Dani began as they ate.

"Yes?" Bri asked, raising an eyebrow curiously.

"Who were you waiting for last night?" Dani asked.

"What? No one!" Bri said a bit too quickly for Dani or Jackie's liking.

"Very funny, we know you were." Jackie said, raising an eyebrow. Dani nodded and Bri finally sighed, rolling her eyes.

"Fine. I was waiting for Dayn Masten." Bri admitted.

"Him? He's in Gryffindor? You're joking!" Dani exclaimed. "How'd he get Katie to date him? And how on earth did she allow herself to get caught up with two guys at one time?"

"What? He's dating Katie?" Bri asked with a slight gasp.

"Weren't you listening in Potions?" Dani asked with a sigh, shaking her head as if scolding a small child.

"Oh... I guess I forgot after what happened with you and Malfoy." Bri mumbled, her hands now fidgeting.

"So what's with you and Dayn, then?" Jackie asked.

"Well, I sort of like him. But I'd completely forgotten he had a girlfriend and now I feel horrible because I was flirting!" Bri exclaimed, biting her lip in anxiety.

"Don't worry about it," Dani shrugged. "At least you now know."

"Yeah." Bri nodded slowly.

"Look, I've got to go to the dungeons quickly to return what I forgot to last night, I'll be quick and I'll see you in Transfiguration." Dani said, standing up.

"Don't be late or you'll get another detention." Bri warned as Dani began walking off.

"Ha, that would suck." Dani laughed as she left.

It wasn't long before she reached the dungeons and turned down a corridor towards where her detention had been held the previous night. She slowed her footsteps as she heard voices and hoped Professor Snape wasn't there as she'd probably get in trouble for stealing the necklace in the first place.

It _was_ by accident though.

"I don't know what you're talking about! I never said that!"

Dani's eyes widened slightly as she heard the voice of her twin sister. She could recognise it anywhere.

"Katie, I'm not mad at you. If that's how you feel then-"

"Listen to me! After dinner the first day back I didn't go straight to the common room. I didn't even know you were looking for me until later!" Katie said, cutting off the voice of Draco Malfoy.

"But..." Malfoy paused and Dani could imagine him frowning in confusion, trying to work out a logical explanation for what had happened. "It must've been Monroe."

"Dani?" Katie asked with a gasp. "What would she want in your room?"

"Who knows? She's out to kill me, I swear." Malfoy said, and now Dani could picture him running a hand through his hair.

"Out to kill you... what a nice idea." she whispered, grinning.

"Draco, this is terrible! What if she succeeds?" Katie asked in a very worried voice.

"Oh, as if someone like Dani Monroe could actually kill me." Draco scoffed. Dani made a squeak of annoyance before quickly covering her mouth with a hand and waiting silently. Had he heard her?

"Draco-"

"Shh." Draco said, cutting Katie off. Dani's heart sank and she knew he was listening for any further sounds. Obviously he had heard and knew someone was there now. Just great. Brilliant. Perfect.

"Monroe?"

Dani screamed and spun around, wondering how on earth he had managed to sneak up behind her when he had been _in front_ of her only moments ago.

"Don't scare me like that!" she snapped, getting in first before he got a chance to say something about why she had been in his room.

"What are you doing here?" he asked.

"I was coming to put the necklace back, if you must know." Dani flicked some of her hair behind her shoulder and then turned from him to walk towards the room where she had spent detention, walking inside.

"You mean you didn't put it back last night? I should tell Snape, you know." Draco said, following her and folding his arms.

"Wow, I'm scared now." Dani droned sarcastically, not being able to stop the grin which appeared on her face as she made her way to the drawer where she had first found the necklace.

"You should be. I know your secret." Draco was smirking and leaning on one of the desks, his eyes twinkling cheekily. When Dani turned to look at him and raised an eyebrow, she found herself actually a bit worried about it was he could know about her.

"Feel like sharing what you know?" she asked, the necklace dangling from her hand, centimetres above the open drawer.

"You want me." he murmured seductively.

Dani burst out laughing, clutching at her sides quickly. "Well that's a joke if ever I heard one!" she exclaimed.

"You pretended to be Katie just so that you could get into my room and then you tell me you don't like me flirting with other girls. It's _obvious_ you want me." Draco reasoned calmly, still quite proud of himself.

"Alright, well you can believe your little delusion." Dani shrugged, moving her hand over to the drawer again. She had just begun letting go of it when suddenly Katie was beside her and wrenched it out of her grip.

"Why didn't you ever tell me you like him?" she asked angrily.

"Because I don't!" Dani snapped. "Now if you won't give that back to me at least put it in the drawer."

"Katie, give it here." Draco said, reaching a hand out with his palm up. Katie stared at Dani for a few more moments before turning and tossing the necklace to Draco, who caught it easily.

"Great, well so long as I don't have to worry about it any more I don't care." Dani said, moving away from the drawer and making her way to the door. As she was passing Draco he reached out and grabbed her arm firmly.

"Just because you're a Gryffindor doesn't mean I won't consider you." he whispered.

"Yuck!" Dani spat, quickly yanking her arm free. "Are you out of your mind? No don't answer that; you clearly are."

"How long are you going to pretend you don't like me?" Draco asked angrily, pushing away from the desk he had been leaning on.

"I don't have to pretend, Malfoy!" Dani said in exasperation before she suddenly found herself clenching her teeth in disgust at the feeling which had overcome her again.

"Draco!" Katie's voice called out from what sounded like far away, and the next thing Dani knew was that her sick feeling was gone and she was _far_ from the detention room.


	6. You Were Snogging Him!

"What the heck!?"

Dani's mouth fell open as she observed the room which they were standing in. The furniture was pristine and the colour green was almost everywhere.

"This is my Manor!" Draco burst out. "What did you do?"

"What did _I_ do?" Dani asked angrily. "I didn't do anything except yell at you!"

"Well, get us back before someone finds us!" Draco said desperately. Dani folded her arms and raised her eyebrow again.

"Why?" she asked slowly, doing her best to annoy him. Footsteps were heard coming down a corridor and Draco suddenly grabbed Dani's arm, dragging her over to a broom cupboard.

"I don't want my father to find us here, alright?" he hissed in a quiet voice, shoving her into the cupboard first and then stepping in after her, shutting the door just as someone else entered the room.

They remained silent as they waited for the person to go through to a different room, but it wasn't long before they both realised the person was heading for their very hide-out. Dani bit her lip nervously and wondered what Mr Malfoy would do once he saw them, hoping it wouldn't be anything bad.

The door opened and Dani peered over Draco's shoulder to find herself staring at a very hot, older version of him.

Crap, did she just think of his father as hot?

"Well, that is unexpected." the man said, staring at them.

"We're so sorry, Mr Malfoy!" Dani exclaimed, gripping Draco's arm tightly without realising it. It was a few moments before she realised Draco was way more confused than he was afraid.

"Who the _heck_ are you and what are you doing in my Manor?" Draco growled threateningly, stepping forward and out of the cupboard. Dani let go of his arm and watched in confusion as he advanced on who she had thought was his father.

She was just contemplating whether or not to step out of the cupboard as well when something hit her in the back and she screamed, falling out onto her face at the feet of Draco and the other blond.

Sometimes life completely sucked.

"Are you alright?" the man who looked like an older Draco asked, reaching down to help her up.

"Don't touch her!" Draco snapped, but Dani was already on her feet again.

"Relax, you'll get to do the exact same thing one day." the man chuckled.

"Why do I feel like I've met your older self?" Dani asked, slightly in a daze. Draco looked over at her, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion, before he let out a small breath.

"You are me, aren't you?" he asked the man quietly.

"Yes, actually, I am." the man, who Dani was forced to believe was Draco as well, replied.

"How?" the young Draco asked.

"You've travelled through time. It's the necklace that does it." the older Draco explained. Dani looked over at the necklace which Draco was still holding in his hand and found it very difficult to believe that it was the reason behind their time travel.

"So, in the detention room with the blond girl we also time travelled? That would explain Snape's look of shock when he walked in and saw us there." Draco said thoughtfully.

"Yeah, you're right." the older Draco nodded in agreement.

"Draco?" called a voice and the older Draco turned just in time to see a woman walk into the room.

"Hey, Dani," he greeted. "Remember this?"

The older Dani paused when she saw the two strangers in her house and then smiled. "Of course, it was terrifying."

"I'm going to faint." Dani whispered, barely audible.

"What are you doing in my house?" the young Draco asked, looking confused but somehow excited at the same time.

"We um-"

"Don't tell them!" Dani scolded the older Draco quickly. "They need to find out for themselves."

"You're planning to murder him, right?" the young Dani asked, eyebrows almost disappearing into her hairline. "I mean, that's why you're here... _right_?"

The older Dani laughed and folded her arms, refusing to answer. "You should go back now." she said.

"How?" the young Dani asked.

"Seriously, is asking questions the only thing you can do?" the young Draco asked in annoyance.

"Well I don't see _you_ finding out how to get back to our time!" Dani said, folding her arms angrily. "But if you have a brainwave, let me know!"

"What is your problem? I was just saying-"

Draco clenched his teeth and fell silent, closing his eyes as the sick feeling which he was familiar with made itself known again. The world felt as if it was falling and then in the next instant he felt himself collide with Dani and they both tumbled backwards, crashing onto a solid floor.

"Draco!" Katie screamed.

"Get off me!" Dani groaned, shoving Draco off herself and then standing up. She dusted herself off before heading to the door, not watching as Draco stood up also and then moved over to Katie, who was shaking her head.

"I can't believe she never told me she liked you," she said to Draco. "No wonder she's always been trying to make me dump you!"

"She's been trying to make you dump me?" Draco asked with a frown, looking down at Katie. She nodded and folded her arms, letting out a quiet sigh.

"Oh well, at least we shouldn't have to worry about her since she seems to be in deep denial." Katie shrugged.

"That's true." Draco agreed in a murmur, staring down at Katie for a few more moments before he looked over at the door again. He then became aware of something in his hand and glanced down, smirking as he saw the necklace. "This is going to be fun."

In Arithmancy that afternoon Dani finally chose to breach the subject about her going through time with Draco. The Professor had set some work for the lesson so everyone was working and talking while they did so.

"Hey, guys?" Dani said as she wrote down some notes on her parchment.

"What's up?" Bri asked curiously, instantly being able to tell that Dani was in one of her serious moods.

"Well, you know how I went to return the necklace this morning?" Dani began cautiously.

"What necklace?" Jackie spoke up, looking up from where she had been doodling 'O.W' on her parchment.

"Oh, um, that's what I was returning this morning. Anyway, it really isn't relevant- actually it is. Okay, last night at detention Snape left the room and I was able to do a bit of sneaking around. I found a necklace in one of the drawers and was admiring it when Malfoy and I began arguing and we went through time. I know it sounds weird, but it's the truth. When I went to return it this morning Malfoy and Katie were there and Malfoy and I went through time again. But the difference was this time we ended up in Malfoy's Manor and met his future self. The thing is-"

Dani stopped and gave Bri a look of disbelief. She had turned to face the front of the room and raised her hand, waiting for the Professor to see her.

When Professor Vector looked up and walked over, Bri lowered her hand.

"Excuse me, Dani's not feeling very well at all. May I take her to the Hospital Wing?" Bri asked.

"I'm feeling fine!" Dani protested in horror.

"She's deluded, Professor." Bri said quietly.

"If you both finish the work I set for you, then you can go." Professor Vector said, eyeing them suspiciously before going back to her desk.

"Bri!" Dani said accusingly.

"What was I supposed to do? Keep listening to you talking about going through time? I honestly doubt that any Professor would leave an object like that lying in an unlocked drawer." Bri reasoned.

"But it's the truth!" Dani protested.

"Well, then you can tell us about it later tonight. For now, I really do want to finish this." Bri gestured at the parchment she had been writing on and Dani gave in.

"Fine, but promise me you'll listen tonight alright?" Dani asked.

"I promise." Bri agreed.

The rest of the lesson went smoothly and, before they knew it, dinner time had arrived and they were heading to the Great Hall with all the other students. Dani had forgotten about telling Bri and Jackie how she travelled through time for the moment and so they all sat down quietly.

A sudden commotion just inside the doors to the Great Hall made many students turn their heads to see what was going on, and Dani too turned around in her seat to get a better view.

"It's not true!" Katie was gasping in terror. Draco was standing further away from her than normal, a glare fixed to his face. The catalyst of their argument stood back from Katie, worry in his eyes. It was Dayn Masten.

"Then what exactly was going on?" Draco asked.

"I just- we- it was a misunderstanding!" Katie floundered desperately for an excuse. Most people had turned away again and carried on with their own business, but Dani kept watching – mostly because Katie was her twin sister and she felt as though she was partly responsible.

"You were snogging him! Where exactly was the misunderstanding?" Draco demanded.

"Look, drop it Malfoy," Dayn spoke up. "You can have her."

Dani winced, but kept her eyes on Katie, who was now staring up at Draco with hope in her eyes. It wasn't hard to see who she liked more out of the two of them.

Dayn began walking away from them and suddenly Draco grabbed Katie's arm, forcefully dragging her away and over to the Slytherin table.

The spectacle was over. The last few remaining heads turned back to their food and the noise died down.

"I wish she could see that Malfoy was bad for her." Dani sighed, resting her head on her hand.

Bri and Jackie nodded silently in agreement, just as Dayn sat down on the other side of Dani. He kept his eyes down, but when Dani kept staring at him and didn't look away he subconsciously looked up.

"What?" he asked.

"Nothing." Dani said nonchalantly, turning away to face her friends.

"I thought _you_ were Malfoy's girlfriend," Dayn began trying to explain. "You didn't tell me when I said Katie was my girlfriend that she was actually dating Malfoy. And then he came and told me to move so it was just all fitting together. I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault, and I'm not mad at you." Dani said, giving him a small smile. "The mistake was made by Katie."

Dayn was silent then and soon began eating, so the subject was dropped. They both knew they wouldn't bring it up again if they could help it.

"So, did you transfer here?" Bri asked Dayn innocently.

"Yeah." Dayn nodded. He glanced up at Bri but then blushed and looked down again, taking another mouthful of food to try and hide his reaction.

"I heard you two were talking for a while last night." Dani said with a grin, raising an eyebrow at Dayn.

"Uh, it wasn't for too long." Dayn said nervously.

Dani laughed and continued to tease Dayn and Bri subtly until Dumbledore stepped up and waited for silence.

Curious, Dani and her friends waited to hear what their Headmaster had to say.

"After much discussion and some difficult persuasion," Dumbledore started. "I have managed to organise for a Ball to be held in three weeks time. Now, I know this does not leave us with very much time to prepare, but I wanted it to be close to the start of the new year and I have also scheduled some extra Hogsmeade trips in order for everyone to buy robes and dresses."

Dani's mouth was hanging open, a tingling sensation rushing through her. Glancing sideways, she found herself staring at Harry and couldn't help but smile slightly. He smiled back and then they turned to face Dumbledore again.

"With that said, I am sure you will all be able to find a date within the time frame, but you'd better start early!" Dumbledore smiled, his eyes twinkling, and then walked back to his seat.

The Great Hall erupted in chatter as everyone began speaking at once and Dani turned to face her two best friends, all three of them grinning excitedly.

"Can you believe it?" Jackie exclaimed. "A Ball!"


	7. Clothing Wars

To see a banner I made for this story, go here[sorry for the inconvenience of all the spaces, but the link wasn't showing up otherwise]:

h t t p : / / s 1 6 2 . p h o t o b u c k e t . c o m / a l b u m s / t 2 5 1 / s e p t a s o n i c x x / ? a c t i o n = v i e w & c u r r e n t = S M R d r e s s e s . p n g & n e w e s t = 1

When the first Hogsmeade trip came around that weekend, everyone was almost bursting from excitement. Dani had forgotten all about what had happened in Draco's Manor and was now simply worrying about what dress she was going to wear and who she was going to go with.

"Look! That shop over there has _gorgeous_ dresses!" Jackie exclaimed after a while of exploring Hogsmeade, grabbing Bri and Dani's arms and dragging them over to the shop she had spoken of.

As they stepped through the doors, they froze. Almost every other girl from Hogwarts was in there and the noise level was immense. There was a scream from the side of the room and the three friends watched in horror as two seventh year girls fought over a dress which they both obviously wanted.

"Maybe we should come back later?" Bri suggested cautiously, beginning to turn back to the door.

"No way!" Jackie and Dani yelled at the same time. Then Dani said, "If we leave now, they'll take all the good dresses! Come on!"

"I don't want to fight over dresses!" Bri complained as Jackie and Dani dragged her through the crowd.

"What's your colour Jackie?" Dani asked.

"Definitely red!" Jackie said with a grin. "What about you?"

"I'm liking red as well, today," Dani laughed. "Bri?"

"I'm a blue girl." Bri said with a smile.

There was another sudden scream and two girls went rushing through the crowd, a dress in the hands of the girl in front.

"This is dangerous." Bri said, worry on her face as she followed the two arguing females with her eyes.

"Don't worry about it," Dani said, still smiling. "If we want something enough we'll get it and no one will be able to stand in our way." Jackie nodded in agreement whilst Bri put her hands on her hips and raised an eyebrow.

"I told you I don't want to fight over dresses!" she complained, but then her eye caught something and she 'ooh'ed before going over to see what it was. Dani laughed.

"Let's find the red dresses," Jackie said, linking arms with Dani and heading over to where the red dresses were all kept. The area around the dresses was as crowded as everywhere else and it was difficult to get a good look at the items of clothing.

"Isn't weird how they've got the colours sorted in gradients around the room? Like right here it goes from red to a pinky-red to pink and then onwards." Jackie pointed out.

"I guess it makes it easier to find a colour you want." Dani shrugged.

"Good point!" Jackie said with a grin, pushing to the side where the red dresses merged with the pink ones.

After a good half an hour, Dani was sure she'd only managed to look at five different dresses. She had managed to decide that she did like red though, so she was looking in the right place.

A particular conversation held between two girls walking by caught Dani's attention and she paused in trying to reach another dress so that she could listen.

"I had to fight four people for this dress," Dani recognised Katie's voice instantly. "But it was definitely worth it. I'm going to stand out and Draco's going to be blown away. _He_ was the one that told me he liked Zebras."

"I can't wait to see it!" gushed Pansy Parkinson. "But I hope he likes my green dress. I thought I'd stick with the Slytherin colour, you know?"

They walked out of earshot then and Dani sighed, going back to looking through the red dresses.

But almost a moment later, Bri appeared by her side with a scowl plastered on her face and one hand on her hip, while the other hand clutched onto a blue dress that looked good from what Dani could see of it.

"What happened?" Dani asked.

"Your sister happened!" Bri exclaimed, before suddenly biting her lip and forcing herself to calm down. It wasn't very nice to go up to someone and tell them their sister was a horrible person. "She tried to steal this dress off me, saying it would look better on her than it would on me. Thankfully I managed to divert her attention though."

"Really?" Dani gasped. "But she just walked past saying she had the best dress."

"Yeah, the one I distracted her with." Bri rolled her eyes.

"Well, are you going to try it on?" Dani questioned, glancing over at the changing rooms. Bri followed her gaze and sighed.

"Maybe if the crowd dies down." she said.

"That's a good idea." Dani nodded. "Well, do you want to help me look for a dress while you wait?"

"Sure! Seen any you like yet?" Bri asked, turning her eyes to look at the red dresses and raising her eyebrows as two girls lunged for the same one at the same time, screaming at each other and claiming they saw it first.

"Plenty, but as you just saw, they quickly got taken from me." Dani laughed. "It's okay though, when I see the one that's perfect for me I won't let _anyone_ take it from me."

"That's the spirit," Bri said sarcastically. "Allow yourself to be sucked into the world of clothing wars."

"Um, have you got anyone in mind that you want to go with yet?" Dani asked, changing the subject effectively and causing Bri to blush.

"Of course!" she whispered.

"It's Dayn, isn't it?" Dani asked with a giggle and Bri nodded, smiling. "Well, do you think Harry would consider me?"

"Consider you? Dani, you two have been eyeing each other for the past three years!" Bri exclaimed.

"Only three?" Dani pouted, causing Bri to laugh at her.

"Before that you weren't too interested in him, as I recall." Bri raised an eyebrow and Dani rolled her eyes, shoving her friend playfully in the arm. "Oh, but you'll have to fight with Ginny to get him. I've seen her looking at him quite a bit as well."

"Really? Ginny?" Dani said, her mouth falling open in shock. "I don't want to fight with her! She's too cute!"

The two friends laughed again and Bri was just about to say something else when Jackie appeared between them, holding up a peach coloured dress with ruffles that almost knocked Bri onto the ground. Admittedly, though, Bri's dress had larger ruffles than Jackie's.

"Watch it!" Bri said, steadying herself by holding onto a clothes rack.

"Sorry! But you have _got_ to look at this!" Jackie exclaimed, twirling her dress around to show her two best friends. It was absolutely gorgeous and was something that would definitely suit Jackie.

"That's perfect for you!" Bri said with a grin.

"I know, right?" Jackie laughed. "I saw Parkinson looking at it a while ago but she left it to go look at the green dresses so I figured I'd pick it up and see if it was any good."

"Whoa, Parkinson has good taste!" Dani joked.

"Jackie, like mine?" Bri asked, holding up her blue dress. Jackie quickly nodded her head, her eyes going wide as she looked up and down the dress.

"I'm amazed you got your hands on it!" Jackie said.

"Yeah, would you like to help me look for a dress before the good ones all disappear?" Dani asked teasingly. Her friends agreed though and they all set to work looking for the perfect red dress.

It wasn't long before Dani realised that her perfect dress was in the hands of three other girls who were all admiring it. She silently let Jackie and Bri know what she was thinking and then began making her way over to them.

"Hey, could I have a look at that?" she asked innocently, joining the three girls.

"We saw it first!" said one of the girls defensively.

"I just wanted to take a look at the size, that's all." Dani said, a grin beginning to spread across her face. These girls looked like fourth years.

"Oh, okay." another one of the girls shrugged and allowed Dani to take a look at the size.

"Ah, just as I thought," Dani sighed. "I really don't think this is going to fit any of you because it's too big."

"What? Can't we just..." one of the girls trailed off and bit her lip.

"Sorry girls, but you should look at the smaller sizes unless you want to turn up to the Great Hall in a dress that looks like a tent on you. Just a bit of advise." Dani pointed out. She began reaching out for the dress and, thankfully, the other three girls allowed her to take it.

"Thanks for letting us know." one girl said before they all walked away.

Dani walked back over to Bri and Jackie with a smile on her face and held up the dress to show them.

"Perfect!"

"It's got 'you' written all over it!"

"Ha, come on, let's go get a spot in the line for the changing rooms to see whether these jewels actually fit us."


	8. I'm going to the ball with Blaise Zabini

Tipping more make-up onto her bed, Jackie sighed. Dani and Bri were going through all of it slowly to try and find the best colours to suit their dresses and now Jackie was able to sift through for colours to suit her own dress as well.

"I don't want to look over-the-top, but I don't want to look plain either." Bri sighed as she added another blue eye-shadow to her pile.

"It's incredible how hard this is!" Dani exclaimed. "You'd think finding the right make-up to wear would be pretty easy, but it's not! I mean, I don't even want to wear red eye-shadow because it'll look weird!"

"Exactly! Although, I _am_ planning on wearing this peach colour." Jackie said, holding up a peach eye-shadow she'd found.

"_And_ there's the problem of whether you're going to merge two colours together or not, because sometimes-"

There was a sudden, sharp knock on the door and Jackie fell silent.

"Just a second!" Dani called out, putting down a lipstick she'd been holding to go over and open the door.

"Hey Hermione!" Bri greeted as she saw who was standing there.

"Hey," Hermione replied before turning back to Dani. "Look, your sister's outside the common room demanding to talk to you."

"As in, Katie?" Dani asked, highly doubting it but thinking of Katie before any of her other sisters. If it was Izefia or Isadora, Dani would also be surprised, but not as much as she would be if it was Katie.

"It's Izefia." Hermione said, biting her lip.

"Izefia?" Dani gasped. She then turned to Bri and Jackie, who were watching her closely. "I'll be back in a second."

Hurriedly following Hermione down the stairs, Dani racked her brain for everything she knew about Izefia, trying to think of a reason why she would want to talk to her. They had never really gotten on well together, mostly because Izefia was practically a living barbie. Her vivid blonde hair made her incredibly attractive, even though she was only thirteen, and she knew it.

As for what she would want to talk to Dani about, her older sister was clueless even as she walked up to the common room door and opened it up.

Izefia instantly reached forward and pulled Dani out to let the door shut behind her. In the next second, Dani hadn't even had time to take a look at the situation when her younger sister had latched onto her and begun crying.

"Hey," Dani said quietly. "What's wrong?" She put her arms around Izefia and hugged her tightly, wondering what had upset her so much to bring her to the older sister that had been sorted into Gryffindor.

"You're the only one who'll understand!" Izefia cried, keeping her face hidden.

"Understand what?" Dani asked gently, slowly guiding Izefia over to the wall and sliding down so that they could both sit against it.

Eventually, Izefia calmed down and was able to lift her face.

"I'm going to the ball with Blaise Zabini," Izefia whispered.

Dani winced, "I feel you."

"No," Izefia shook her head. "He's nice, but the problem is... I want to go with someone else."

"Does this someone else have a date yet?" Dani asked.

"No."

"Then why don't you just tell Zabini you want to go with someone else, and then ask this other guy?" Dani asked with a frown.

"Because he's-!" Izefia stopped and looked away, reluctant to let go of the vital piece of information.

"If you don't tell me I can't help you," Dani said. "And I'm still waiting to see exactly how I can, because I _want_ to."

Izefia glanced up at her, confused and thankful that her sister was forgetting everything that had happened between them for the moment just to help her out.

"Alright," she began again. "The problem is that the guy I want to go with is in Hufflepuff."

Dani stared at her for a while before shaking her head. "Izzy, that doesn't matter. If you like him, who cares what house he's in?"

"But I'm a Slytherin! We have expectations to live up to!" Izefia protested.

"You're also a Monroe and I'm sure mum would be proud if you put aside the house stereotypes in order to be friends with someone because of who they are instead of what house they're in." Dani said, pausing before adding, "Plus, you're too young to be so worried about such things. You're only thirteen!"

"Katie's boyfriend scares me though," Izefia said. "What if he finds out and dumps Katie because of association?"

"Then it would be good for Katie! Malfoy is a jerk and she deserves way better, so if that does happen as a result I will be forever thankful to you." Dani laughed, managing to produce a small smile from Izefia as well.

"Thanks for the advice." Izefia began standing up and Dani followed suit.

"No problem, and don't forget that if you ever need me again I'll be ready to help." Dani gave Izefia one more hug before the younger girl walked off quickly, probably trying to get away from Gryffindor territory before anyone else saw her.

Returning to her dorm, Dani sat beside Jackie.

"Is everything okay?" Jackie asked cautiously. She and Bri had continued looking through make-up while Dani was gone but now they pushed it aside.

"Yeah, Izefia just needed someone who wouldn't rip her head off for something." Dani said vaguely, smiling slightly.

"_Dani!_"

Dani's eyes widened as she heard Dean yelling up the stairs. Giving an apologetic look to Bri and Jackie, she stood and made her way down again.

"What is it?" she asked curiously. Ginny was standing next to Dean and Dani couldn't help but smile. This gave her a greater chance of going with Harry to the ball.

"I know this is crazy, but now Katie's out there." Dean said, his eyebrows raised.

"Someone's popular." Ginny joked.

"Ha, alright guys, thanks for letting me know." Dani said to them before turning and once again walking over to the common room door, opening it up.

"Oh thank goodness you're here!" Katie gushed, pulling her twin out of the common room. "I need your help."

"What with?" Dani sighed, folding her arms and wondering why she felt like she had just gone back in time. She couldn't help but snicker at that thought, though. At least she was sure she couldn't have because she didn't have the necklace any more.

"Draco's been acting weird ever since he walked in on Masten and I, so I need you to persuade him that I never really liked Masten in the first place!" Katie begged.

"How am I supposed to do that? Malfoy will _never_ listen to me." Dani pointed out. She frowned then as well, suddenly noticing that Katie had dyed her hair blonde. Well, at least they wouldn't be confused for each other so much any more.

"That's just the thing!" Katie lifted up the bag she was holding in one hand and shoved it at Dani. "Put these on, quick!"

"Katie!" Dani protested, but she was already being pushed towards a door and then she was shut inside the dark room.

Groaning, Dani pulled her wand out of her pocket and mumbled 'lumos'. Then putting her wand on a table nearby, she carefully opened the back to see what was inside.

Mumbling something inaudible, she wished she had been smarter in the past few moments. Of _course_ that was Katie's plan. Dani had already proven she could do it once, so why not again but this time to help Katie?

Sighing, Dani began pulling on her twin sisters clothing. Once she was finished, she grabbed her wand and left the room, finding Katie pacing anxiously.

"One problem," Dani said before Katie could open her mouth. "You dyed your hair."

"Easily fixed." Katie smiled, pulling her own wand out of her pocket and pointing it at Dani's hair, saying a quick spell and then smiling happily. Dani reached up and pulled a strand of her hair in front of her face, gasping as she saw it was the exact same blonde as Katie's.

"How did you-?"

"I'm not as dumb as I look."

"Right," Dani chuckled. "Why did you dye your hair anyway?"

"I just felt like it, but don't worry, I'll probably get bored of it next week." Katie shrugged.

"Does Malfoy know you dyed your hair?" Dani asked.

"He was there when I did it, of course. And you have to start calling him Draco or it won't work!" Katie ordered, looking worried.

"Relax, I've done it before." Dani reminded her twin.

"Yes you have, so if you mess up I'm going to hate you forever." Katie glared at her.

"Don't worry, once I'm done with him he'll have completely forgotten that you were _ever_ in a relationship with Dayn." Dani handed the bag with her clothes in it to Katie then before walking past her on her way to the Slytherin common room.

Suddenly spinning around again, she called to Katie, "Change your hair to brown and pretend to be me while I'm gone, please! The password is canary."


	9. That was short lived

When Katie entered the Gryffindor common room, she couldn't help but question herself as to why she had done what Dani had asked of her. Also, she had no idea how she was going to pull this off.

Bri suddenly appeared by her side, a huge smile on her face.

"Dani, you'll never guess what just happened!" Bri whispered excitedly. "You were gone for like, two seconds, and Dayn asked me to the ball!"

"He _what!?_" Katie snapped, unable to control herself. Dayn should have been grovelling at her feet begging for her to take him back, not giving her over to Draco and moving on to her twin sisters best friend!

"Isn't it great?" Bri asked, still smiling. After staring at Katie for a moment longer, however, the smile faded. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong, I just don't think Dayn's good enough for you." Katie said, proud of herself for coming up with that on the spot.

"Why haven't you said anything until now?" Bri asked sadly. "You were encouraging me just the other day."

"Um, sorry." Katie shrugged.

"Hey, Dani!" Jackie walked over, a huge grin on her face. "Try not to look too excited, but Harry wants to talk to you. I think it's about the ball. You go girl!"

Katie's eyes widened as Jackie and Bri began pushing her over to the side of the room where Harry was standing by himself. Taking a deep breath, Katie walked over there. Did Dani like Harry? Merlin, she didn't even know who her twin sister had a crush on!

"Um, hey Harry." she said nervously, feeling strange calling him by his first name instead of his last.

"Dani, hi." Harry said, and Katie was thankful that he looked just as uneasy as she felt.

"You wanted to talk to me?" Katie asked, fiddling with her fingers as she didn't know what else to do.

"Yeah, uh," Harry swallowed. "I was wondering if you... wanted to go to the ball with me?"

Katie felt an incredible desire not to stuff this up for her sister, which also gave her a horrible sick feeling as she didn't know whether to agree or not. If she said yes and Dani didn't want to go with him it would be a problem, but if she said no and Dani _did_ want to go with him, it would also be a problem.

"Can I... get back to you on that?" Katie asked hesitantly. Harry looked like he was about to faint from nerves and she tried to smile to make him feel better.

"Yeah, okay, sure. That's fine. Sure." Harry said, nodding quickly.

"I'm sorry, but I need to think about it a bit." Katie said, feeling more confident now that she didn't have to make a decision. She would simply tell Dani what had happened and Dani could take it from there. Everything would turn out alright.

And when she went back to being herself, Draco would be acting normally again.

Over in the Slytherin common room, Dani had just managed to get in by following Pansy Parkinson. Now that she _was_ inside, she didn't know what to do.

Thankfully none of her siblings were good at telling her and Katie apart, because Slytherin definitely was the Monroe house. In fact, as Dani looked around, she saw Rudy talking with some friends over to one side and Isadora sitting at one of the tables doing some homework.

Lifting her chin slightly, she searched for someone who she could ask about Malfoy, because she honestly had no idea where he was or where to begin looking.

"Katie, come over here!" Dani turned to see another Slytherin boy gesturing for her to join his group of friends and she walked over quickly.

"Sorry, I don't have long to hang around and talk," she said to them. "I'm looking for Draco. Have you seen him?"

"I think he's up in his room," one of the girls said with a shrug. "If you find him tell him we're betting on the ball. He wanted to know when that was happening."

"Sure thing." Dani nodded and walked off to the boys dorms. She was now glad that she'd been here before so that she knew where she was going. It added to her act and made it look more real.

Finding the door that she remembered Crabbe telling her belonged to Malfoy's dorm, she knocked on it.

"Come in," came the reply and she slowly inched the door open, nerves sparking inside her as she saw that he was actually there.

"Hi, Draco."

"Oh, Katie, hey," Malfoy put down some parchment he'd been writing on and stood up, walking over to her. "Look, whatever dress you got for the ball is probably fine. Just so long as you like it."

"I'm glad you feel that way," Dani said with a smile, staring into Malfoy's eyes and finding herself trying to work out what Katie saw in him. Of course, he was good-looking and had a nice smile, but the way he treated others meant none of that mattered.

Dani suddenly had a thought and her smile faltered. How was she supposed to know what was 'normal' for Malfoy? How would she be able to tell if he was acting weird?

"If there's nothing you wanted to talk to me about you can leave." Malfoy said after a pause.

Okay, Dani thought, I don't know how he usually acts, but that _can't_ be normal.

"If this is still about Dayn, then I'm completely over him." Dani folded her arms and glared at him, hoping this wouldn't seem like a weird thing for Katie to say.

"If what is about Dayn?" Malfoy asked with a frown.

"You telling me to leave in such a blunt way! You never usually act the way you have been ever since you found out about us. And I'm sorry, but can't you please just put it behind you?" Dani asked.

"Katie, he's a Gryffindor! What made you like him in the first place?" Malfoy snapped angrily.

"Why does it matter? I'm over him now and you have me back, so act like you actually want me! It's that or we're over for good." Dani narrowed her eyes and hoped Malfoy would somehow react to this and apologise – or something. If she ended Katie's relationship with him, she wouldn't live to tell the tale.

Malfoy stared at her for a moment. He stared at her with a scrutinising look that seemed to reach every inch of her face and made her skin crawl because she thought the end was coming. And then he turned around.

"Promise me you'll never talk about him ever again," he said quietly. "And that you'll stop acting like every guy in the world wants you."

Dani raised her eyebrows before smoothing out her expression again quickly. He could turn around any second and she didn't want to be caught doing something Katie wouldn't.

"Alright." she said.

"You promise?" Malfoy asked, turning to look at her. She nodded firmly, keeping his gaze. "Good."

"So you'll stop acting weird, now?" she asked him.

"Of course. That was the deal wasn't it?" Malfoy folded his arms.

"I guess so." Dani shrugged. "Well, now that that's over I'll just leave I guess. Give you some time to think-"

"You don't have to." Malfoy said, taking a step towards her. "How long have we been dating? Two years?"

"Um... yes..." Dani said cautiously, wondering where Malfoy was intending to take this conversation.

"You've been so patient with me all the time." he said in a gentle tone, reaching a hand up to the side of her face. She stared at him, fear flooding through her as she tried her best to think of what Katie would do in this situation. Malfoy smiled, the expression almost becoming a smirk for a moment.

"I'm a lucky girl." Dani said with a small smile.

"Yes you are. Especially since you're about to be kissed by me." Malfoy began leaning in and Dani squeaked without even thinking. She stepped back, staring at him in shock and wondering why he didn't look worried by her reaction.

"Um," Dani began, her mind whirring with what she could say to defend herself now.

"Katie, relax," Malfoy chuckled, stepping forward again. "I promise not to accidentally bite you like I did last time."

"I'm... so reassured." Dani mumbled, trying to sound sincere while also trying to think of an escape option.

Unfortunately she was too late, and she was suddenly backed into a wall with Draco Malfoy's lips attached to hers. Wondering whether she was supposed to do something with her arms, she floundered for a moment before putting them around his neck.

Dani had never actually kissed anyone before, so she had no idea what she was meant to do and was almost certain Malfoy would know she wasn't Katie after this.

Malfoy suddenly pulled back and Dani was sure she was done for, so she kept her eyes closed. She'd rather listen to him rant without having to watch it. He was sure to be _really_ angry once he realised he'd kissed Dani instead of Katie.

And oh no, what would happen if Katie found out?

Which she would. Because life sucked like that.

"Katie, how would you like to go for a broom ride?" Malfoy asked, making Dani's eyes open instantly. A broom ride? He was asking her about a broom ride?

"What?" she asked.

"I know we've never done anything like it before, but I think it'd be romantic." Malfoy shrugged. He was grinning at her and for some reason she actually saw him as a normal human being.

"It would be romantic," Dani agreed with a small smile of her own. "Could you... give me a minute to get ready?"

This was her chance. She would run and find Katie, tell her that Malfoy wanted to take her on a broom ride and then they'd swap places again and everything would be fine.

"You look ready to me." Malfoy smirked.

Or not.

"Well, you know, I'm a girl," Dani said quickly. "I need to put more make-up on and change my clothes and um-"

Malfoy grabbed her hand and led her quickly out of his room and down the stairs to the common room.

"Oh by the way they're betting on the ball." Dani said as they walked past the group of people who had invited her over before.

"I don't care," Malfoy said. "I want to do this for you."

Dani let out a sigh as they left the Slytherin common room and began walking through the halls of the Hogwarts castle. Obviously there was no stopping him once he had an idea in his head.

After a lot of walking, they reached the quidditch pitch. Malfoy grabbed a broom from the shed and swung a leg over before gesturing for Dani to get on behind him.

"It's alright, I can fly by my-"

Malfoy raised an eyebrow at her.

"Never mind." Dani said, moving over and mounting the broom behind him.

"You're going to have to hold on, unless you want to fall off." Malfoy chuckled and Dani rolled her eyes before giving in and wrapping her arms around his waist.

Kicking off, Malfoy lifted the two of them into the air and flew around the pitch slowly. The wind wasn't very strong yet, so Dani was thankful that her hair wasn't flying into her face and mouth, which usually happened when she played.

"So Katie," Malfoy said over his shoulder. "Tell me about the dress you picked out for the ball."

Dani closed her eyes and slowly shook her head, once again glad that Malfoy couldn't see her. Today was not her day. How was she supposed to tell him about a dress that she had never seen before in her life? She couldn't make something up or he'd know when he saw Katie the night of the ball, so what could she say?

"It's a surprise."

Malfoy suddenly veered the broom down and Dani held on tighter as he took them down to the ground.

"Time to get off." he announced.

"That was short lived." Dani said before doing as he had asked. He then also dismounted and turned to look at her, a smirk on his face again.

"I knew you wanted me." he said proudly.

"Well," Dani wondered what on earth had made him say that and searched for something to reply with. "I'm your girlfriend so... I should?"

"In your dreams, Monroe." Malfoy chuckled.

"What?" Dani asked, confused.

"You're my girlfriend _in your dreams_." he repeated, still smirking. He chuckled again then and turned, walking away. "Next time you see Katie, let her know that I want to talk to her."

Dani's mouth fell open and she watched his retreating back in confusion. He knew she was Dani? Had he figured it out before or after the kiss? Before or after the broom ride?

And why was he laughing about it?


	10. What Gave Me Away?

The day of the ball had arrived. After leaving Malfoy from pretending to be Katie, Dani had run into Katie who had then explained that Harry wanted to go with her to the ball. Sprinting to the common room, Dani had almost shouted a yes at him in her excitement.

A few days after that had happened, Jackie was approached by Oliver in a corridor between classes and he had asked her to attend the ball with him. As Jackie had said afterwards, it was his accent that had swayed her.

Dani hadn't heard back from Katie since, which made her nervous but also glad. This meant that Malfoy had probably kept to himself about what had happened – although, that also meant he probably had something up his sleeve.

Despite everything, Dani, Jackie and Bri had made their way down from their dorm on time, making their way to the Great Hall amongst the crowd of other people dressed in suits or dresses.

Dani had her arm through Harry's and couldn't stop smiling. Bri and Jackie were also with their dates, the contagious smiles on their faces also.

"Dani!" came a scream, and before she knew it Katie was in front of her, hyperventilating.

"Are you okay?" Dani asked worriedly. Katie was wearing a long, flowing dress with black stripes curving around it diagonally. The background colour was mainly white with some blue here and there.

"Come with me now. No complaints." Katie demanded, grabbing her arm and dragging her from Harry before anyone could protest.

Slightly upset, Dani allowed herself to be pulled into an empty classroom.

"What is it?" she asked, folding her arms once Katie had closed the door.

"He dumped me! You said we'd be fine but this morning he said we were over and I just can't deal with that!" Katie said angrily. "We're still going together but he said he wouldn't be my boyfriend any more."

"I'm sorry! I tried my hardest!" Dani said in defence.

"You have to help me again." Katie ordered.

"How am I supposed to do that?" Dani asked, flinging her hands up. "We don't have the same dresses!"

"That's why I grabbed you now." Katie said, reaching her arms behind her back and slowly undoing her own dress. "You're going to pretend to be me and I'm going to pretend to be you. Once you've convinced him to like me again we'll swap back and everything will be fine."

Dani stared at Katie without moving for a moment. She was supposed to make Malfoy fall in love with Katie, whilst pretending to be Katie?

"It won't work."

"Yes it will! Now hurry up!" Katie snapped, turning around to pull her dress off.

Sighing, Dani slowly got out of her dress and handed it over to Katie, taking the striped dress in return. Choosing not to complain any more, she put the dress on and then waited for Katie to turn around and say the spell to make her hair blonde again.

"Don't forget your own hair." Dani muttered, watching as Katie nodded and then changed her hair to brown.

"Thanks for doing this, I'll repay you!" Katie said, moving to the door.

"Don't forget to smile a lot!" Dani called after her.

She stayed in the room for a few minutes after Katie was gone, looking down at herself and wondering how she had managed to get herself caught up in this again.

Taking a deep breath, she left the room and made her way to the Great Hall where everyone else was headed. She felt strange, walking past people in Gryffindor who didn't even glance at her because of who she looked like now. The dress didn't feel right on her either, but she guessed she'd have to pretend to really like it.

Entering the Hall, she quickly looked for Malfoy and his friends. She wanted to get this over with as soon as possible.

"Hey, Katie! I _knew_ that dress would look good on you." Pansy Parkinson said, appearing beside her and walking with her.

"Oh, thanks, yours looks- whoa! Um, it looks great on you!" Dani said, staring wide-eyed at the dress Pansy was wearing. It looked like she had walked through a giant vomit pile and not washed before coming to the ball.

"Thanks!" Pansy grinned.

Managing to reach Malfoy and his friends, Dani stood behind them silently. Malfoy was talking to Blaise, who, Dani noticed with a smile, had gone with another Slytherin girl and not Izefia.

Turning, she scanned the room for her younger sister to see if she could spot her anywhere. If she wasn't here with Blaise, she must be with the other guy she had wanted to go with and Dani was happy for her.

"Oh, for goodness sake Katie," Dani suddenly heard Malfoy say as he turned around and saw her. "Just because we're not dating doesn't you have to stand way back there. Come on." He reached over and took hold of her arm, pulling her to stand next to him.

"I didn't want to anger you." Dani said quietly, keeping her eyes down.

"Relax." Malfoy sighed.

"I just don't understand why we even broke up in the first place! It's absolutely pointless! We're perfect for each other!" Dani said, lifting her head now and giving Malfoy her best sad look.

Malfoy looked down at her and sighed, shaking his head slightly. "You really want to go out with me again?"

"Yes!" Dani said with a nod of her head.

"Say it." Malfoy said with a smirk.

"I want to go out with you." Dani said, mentally groaning and wondering if Katie had to put up with this kind of behaviour all the time.

"Well then I'll go out with you!" Malfoy said with a shrug.

Dani frowned.

"That was fast..." she murmured.

"Do you want to dance?" Malfoy asked, and Dani bit her lip. Inconspicuously, she tried to see where Katie was. Seeing her over at the drinks stand gave Dani an idea.

"Could we go get a drink? I'm really thirsty." Dani said, bravely reaching out and taking his hand in hers.

"Sure." he smirked and allowed her to lead the way over to the drinks, standing close to her the whole time.

"I don't see why you don't like me calling you Parry!" Dani heard Katie say as she drew near.

"And I don't see what's gotten into you!" Harry replied angrily. "It's almost as if Katie put a spell on you when she spoke to you before."

Dani bit her lip harder and hoped Malfoy wasn't listening to the conversation. It might make him start thinking things he shouldn't be thinking.

"Well I like calling you Parry so you can't stop me." Katie folded her arms stubbornly and then let out a small gasp as she saw Dani.

"Is this alright?" Malfoy asked, picking up a glass and holding it out to Dani. Her attention was taken from Katie and she looked at him. He was smirking at her and it made her feel nervous but she took the glass anyway, nodding her head.

"Thank you." she said.

"I'm glad you like it." Malfoy said, leaning towards her. "Would you like to go outside so we can be alone?"

Just as Dani was about to try and think up another excuse so that she didn't get into a sticky situation again, she saw Katie nodding rapidly out of the corner of her eye.

"Sure, I guess." Dani mumbled.

Shooting a glance at Harry, Dani felt sorry for ditching him without him even knowing. He looked upset and she could only imagine that the night was not turning out the way he had imagined it would.

But before she had too much time to think about it, she found herself trailing behind Malfoy out through the doors where they then walked into a small open courtyard.

"This place is beautiful." Dani said with a small smile.

"Just like Dani Monroe." Malfoy smirked.

Instantly Dani turned on him, eyes wide. "What? You think my sister is beautiful? What about me?"

"Well you're identical, aren't you?" Malfoy asked with a raised eyebrow.

"But our hair colour is different!" Dani protested.

"Yes, it is, but it doesn't matter that much. I was there when you dyed it and it only requires a very simple spell. Easy to undo."

Dani narrowed her eyes, now knowing for certain that something was up. Malfoy was smirking like he'd just been told the juiciest secret about someone he hated and it couldn't be because he was talking about hair dye.

"What's going on, Draco?" she snapped.

"I love the way you say my name, it's so different to the way your sister says it." Malfoy said, letting go of her hand and walking over to the edge of the courtyard, leaning over the railing.

"That would be because she only ever calls you Malfoy." Dani pointed out.

"How incredibly observant of you!" Malfoy laughed.

"Stop this! Tell me what's going on or I'll-" Dani groaned and put a hand over her mouth. "Not again."

Malfoy spun around suddenly, eyes wide and triumphant.

"I knew it was you!"

"What are you talking about?" Dani asked in panic, suddenly realising her mistake.

"'Not again' you said. Meaning you've gone through time before. I _knew_ you were Dani and not Katie." Malfoy said.

Dani considered protesting and lying about feeling sick earlier that day, but she decided it was a lost cause as she took another look at Malfoy's face. He knew. That must have been why he was smirking so much.

"What gave me away?" she asked grumpily, folding her arms.

"You have a different look in your eyes than Katie does. When looking at _me_, I mean." Malfoy explained. "It's almost as if you love me more than she does."

"Why you little!" Dani gasped, storming over to him with every intention of slapping him for suggesting something like that. But just as she reached him, a wave of sickness came over her again and she faltered, twisting her ankle at the sudden stop and squealing when she heard a crack.

As all this happened, she was flung forwards and would have fallen if Malfoy wasn't standing there and was able to catch her.

"Did I break my ankle?" Dani asked as she braced her hands against Malfoy's chest to turn her head and look down at her foot. "Oh my gosh!"

"Is there blood?" Malfoy asked, moving his head to try and see.

"I broke my high heel!" Dani exclaimed. When Malfoy didn't say anything she turned to look at him and frowned at his look of disbelief. Thinking back over what she had said, she let out a small laugh. "You're right, it's not that big of a deal."

"I'm glad you can see that now." Malfoy said with a smile and a shake of his head.

Letting out a quiet sigh, Dani asked softly, "Why are we fighting?"

"Because you're deep in denial." Malfoy replied, also softly.

"I am not!" Dani exclaimed, pushing away from him and stumbling backwards because of her broken shoe.

"There's one thing I haven't figured out yet," Malfoy said. "How did you convince Katie to let you pretend to be her?"

"She's the one who wanted me to do it!" Dani said with a roll of her eyes. "She wanted me to try and fix things between you so that you could go out together. I would have succeeded if you didn't notice it was me."

"No you wouldn't have." Malfoy shook his head firmly. "I don't want Katie."

"Then you need to tell her that or she'll make me swap places with her _again_." Dani groaned.

"That wouldn't be so bad." Malfoy smirked and took a step towards her, only causing her to back away again as well.

"Whatever it is you're thinking Draco Malfoy, _don't_." Dani warned.

"Why can't I think about kissing you?" Malfoy asked sadly, making Dani flinch and frown at him.

"In case you've forgotten-"

"You're my girlfriend. Yes, I did wonder whether I'd have to remind you again." Malfoy sighed.

"How on earth did you arrive at that conclusion?" Dani asked loudly, fed up with Malfoy and the stupid things he said which didn't make sense and weren't true at all.

"You said you wanted to go out with me, I said yes. That means we're dating now." Malfoy reminded her, to which she stared in horror.

"No way!"

"Are you breaking up with me already?"

With a strangled scream, Dani spun around and began hobbling away from him. She just couldn't take this right now!

"No one has to know." Malfoy said before she could get too far away.

"I'm going to go find Harry. Then I'm actually going to have some _fun_ at this ball." Dani called over her shoulder.

Disappearing from his view, she broke into a run.


	11. I'm Sorry

Dani walked determinedly, yet with a slight limp, over to where Katie was standing beside Harry over near the wall. Neither of them seemed to be enjoying themselves, but when Katie looked over and saw Dani coming her face brightened.

Until she realised Dani didn't look happy at all, and then she panicked.

"Dani," Dani said, wanting to keep the act up so that Harry didn't find out he'd been ditched. "Come with me again, I need to tell you something else."

Grabbing Katie's arm, Dani dragged her away from Harry quickly. Glancing over her shoulder, she was gutted to see that he had leant his head back against the wall and was staring up at the roof sadly.

Once Dani had reached the empty classroom they had been in before, she turned on Katie.

"We have to-"

Stopping and frowning, she turned around to see a couple kissing in the back corner of the classroom.

"We have to find another room." Dani amended, shaking her head and then pulling Katie out of the room again to find another one which was thankfully empty this time.

"What is this all about?" Katie asked, yanking away from Dani once they were alone. "Did you or did you not succeed?"

"Not. And I _told_ you it wasn't going to work." Dani said, reaching back to start undoing Katie's dress so that she could give it back to the rightful owner.

"Why did he take you outside then?" Katie asked, seeing what Dani was doing and reluctantly doing the same.

"To tell me in private that he didn't want to go out with me and to get over it." Dani said shortly, hoping Katie never found out what had really happened.

"I'm glad it was you and not me." Katie sighed, handing Dani her dress and accepting hers.

"What's been happening with you and Harry?" Dani asked anxiously, pulling on her dress as Katie pulled hers on as well.

"I don't know what you see in him, honestly," Katie groaned. "He's a horrible dancer."

"You _danced_?" Dani squeaked, wide-eyed.

"He insisted!" Katie turned to leave the room. "But how badly did you stuff up my relationship with Draco, then?" she asked as she paused at the door.

"It's not my fault he just doesn't like you!" Dani said angrily, even more frustrated than before now that she was being blamed.

"No matter what you say, I won't give up. And if I need you again..." Katie trailed off, letting her words sink it, and then left. But Dani was quick to follow and overtook her despite her broken shoe, making it back into the Great Hall first and then searching for Harry.

After a moment or two, she saw him standing with Bri and Dayn, who were talking excitedly about something. Heading over there, she wondered what she would say to him. How could she ever make up for what had happened?

"Hey Dani!" Bri shouted as Dani got there. "I'm going to Paris!"

Dani looked at Dayn and raised an eyebrow. "Is she drunk?"

"How could you tell?" Dayn joked with a laugh. "But she might actually be telling the truth, depending on how she feels tomorrow."

"What do you mean by that?" Dani asked with a frown.

"We're getting two French exchange students but they need two people to replace them, so I asked Bri if she wanted to go with me." Dayn explained, his words coming out slower as Dani's expression darkened.

"You only just got here and you want to transfer again?" Dani asked.

"Why don't you talk about it later? I'd like to spend some time alone with you." Harry said to Dani quietly. Turning to face him, she noticed he still looked upset.

"Harry, I'm so sorry-"

"Please," Harry interrupted her. "Can we go somewhere else?"

Taking a deep breath, she nodded. "Sure."

Bri giggled as Dani and Harry walked off, her arms going around Dayn to help herself keep standing and not fall over. It was obvious someone had spiked the punch, because what she was doing would not have happened otherwise.

Harry led Dani out the doors and, unfortunately, to the exact same place she had just been with Malfoy. She felt an odd sensation of deja vu but tried to push it aside, wanting to only focus on Harry now that she was out of sight of Katie. She was also glad that so far he hadn't noticed she was walking differently.

"Harry, I really am sorry about before." Dani said, touching his arm and looking into his eyes, trying to convey her feelings to him.

"I'm glad you're back to your normal self, now." Harry murmured. "Did Katie do something to you before?"

"I... honestly couldn't tell you if she did." Dani said quietly.

"Well it doesn't matter, so long as we keep you away from her from now on." Harry said, attempting to joke a bit to ease the tension in their conversation.

"Please do." Dani said with a nod of her head.

"Well, do you want to dance again?" he asked nervously. Smiling, she nodded her head and stepped closer towards him slightly. Thinking about what was about to happen, she completely forgot that she would probably find it incredibly difficult because with no heel on one foot she was lopsided.

Gently taking his hand in hers, she put her other hand on his shoulder and shivered as he put his hand on her waist. They could both hear the music from inside and slowly began swaying to get a feel for it.

Then the music suddenly cut out and Dani frowned, glancing over at the doorway they'd come through and wondering what had happened.

Dumbledore's voice cut through the silence.

"Students, you are all looking absolutely stunning in your suits and dresses, however ever since I organised the ball I've had a bit of a surprise hidden up my sleeve. You see, for this night to be even more memorable than it already is I've decided that we need to find a way that we can overcome the House differences. So, please step away from your partner and close your eyes. That's it, everybody now. And now..."

Dumbledore's voice faded and there was silence again. Dani glanced at Harry, who shrugged briefly before closing his eyes. With a smile, Dani also closed her eyes and waited.

"Thank you to everyone for being cooperative. You may all now continue on with your evening and enjoy yourselves." The music began again.

Dani frowned and opened her eyes to see whether Harry was as confused as she was, but gasped and stepped back when she saw that he was now wearing a bronze mask that shone brightly in the moonlight.

"Dani?" Harry asked, looking at her with a confused expression also.

That was when she realised she could feel something on her face and slowly reached up a hand to feel it.

"What colour is it?" she asked him.

"White," he replied softly. "But it's almost silver."

"Yours is gold." she said to him and it was then his turn to feel his own mask.

"Your dress..." Harry murmured. Looking down at herself, Dani gasped as she saw she was no longer in the red dress she had chosen at Hogsmeade, but a silver dress that she guessed must match the mask she was wearing.

"What is Dumbledore playing at?" she asked quietly.

"Maybe we should go inside and find out." Harry suggested, raising an eyebrow.

"I suppose," Dani said. "Are you sure you don't mind?" Harry chuckled and put an arm around her shoulders, leading her towards the doors to go back inside.

"It's fine. Really."

As they re-entered the Great Hall, Dani smiled to herself when she realised she had new silver shoes on as well. At least it made things simpler for her.

"Whoa." Harry said, his feet failing to keep moving as he took in the sight before him. Dani's eyebrows rose in shock as she stared before her as well and she suddenly realised how Dumbledore had planned to 'overcome the House differences'.

All the girls were wearing identical dresses and masks, and all the guys were wearing identical suits and masks. The entire room was silver, black and bronze.

"I have to say, Dumbledore has some interesting ideas sometimes." Dani said with a giggle.

"I absolutely agree." Harry said.

"Do you want to dance in here?" Dani asked, turning to smile at him. He nodded and they walked towards the middle of the room where the dancing was taking place, before beginning to move to the music.

After a while, Dani and Harry were becoming bolder with their dance moves. Rather than just swaying and taking a few steps forward and back, Dani began to do some twirls and Harry even dipped her a few times.

Smiling, Dani was glad that Harry was finally enjoying himself again.

Loosening her grip on his hand, she turned to the side and began spun away from him until their fingers were only just touching. Harry laughed and closed his eyes for a moment as she grinned at him.

In the next moment, she was pulled away from him and was watching as Katie took her place, taking hold of Harry's hand and spinning back in to him with a smile. She had changed her hair back to brown again. As the two of them danced in the opposite direction, Katie glared back at Dani over Harry's shoulder and Dani just _knew_ what she wanted her to do.

With a sigh, she turned around.

And was met with Malfoy.

"You just can't keep away from me, can you Monroe?" he asked with a snigger.

"Blame it all on Katie! She's the one who seems to think that I'll be able to make you like her again!" Dani exclaimed angrily.

"Well seeing as you realise the truth that you can't do that, why don't you just enjoy yourself anyway? Forget what she's told you to do. Have some fun." Malfoy said.

"I would if she hadn't stolen my date." Dani scowled, turning to look over to where Katie was actually doing a good job of pretending to be her now.

"Do you want to get back at her for that?" Malfoy asked curiously.

"Definitely." Dani said with a sharp nod of her head.

"Then steal _her_ date." Malfoy said in such a way that Dani half expected him to say 'duh' right after.

Then his words actually sunk in and she looked up at him again, frowning.

"What?" she asked.

"Dance with me."

"No!"

"What are you going to do, storm over there and have Potter find out you ditched him to be with me?" Malfoy asked, folding his arms.

"Of course not, but that doesn't mean I'm going to dance with you." Dani replied.

"Why don't you at least try to have some fun while you're with me?" Malfoy sighed, letting his arms fall to his sides again.

"Why aren't you acting normal and telling me to get lost?" Dani retorted, putting her hands on her hips. "Ever since I first pretended to be Katie you've been... civilised!"

"Is that a crime? Maybe I've just learnt to respect you because you wanted to help out a sister who's in Slytherin." Malfoy said innocently.

"Look Malfoy, I'm tired of arguing with you. I don't care what-"

Dani stopped speaking as Malfoy stepped forward and slipped an arm around her waist, grabbing her hand with his and beginning to dance.

Grumbling, she put her other hand on his shoulder and went along with it.

"See, this isn't so bad is it?" Malfoy smirked.

"Actually it's not, but every time you open your mouth it gets that _little_ bit closer to being unbearable." Dani said, not looking at him.

"Perhaps you should amend your sentence. You don't like it when I talk." Malfoy said.

"That's what I said, just in different words." Dani pointed out, looking up at him to try and get a better understanding of what he was thinking.

"I'm sure I could make it more pleasant by opening my mouth." Malfoy said, raising an eyebrow at her and chuckling when she blushed, catching on to his innuendo.

"That's- I didn't-" Dani clenched her teeth.

"Want me to prove it?" Malfoy asked, leaning his head closer to hers but stopping when she flinched. "It'll be better than last time."

Suddenly pulling away, Dani shook her head. "I have to go."

She didn't wait for him to reply, but instead slipped through the crowd of people quickly as she searched for Harry and Katie. Seeing them up ahead, she hurried towards them.

Two metres from them, she called out, "Katie!" before getting closer and reaching out to grab her twin sisters arm, quickly pulling her away from Harry and towards the doors of the Great Hall.

"Dani!?" Harry gasped in shock.

Turning to look over her shoulder, she called, "I'm sorry!" and disappeared out into the hallway beyond.


	12. Secretly, Of Course

Dani hurriedly wiped the back of her hand across her eyes and took a deep breath, refusing to look at Katie who was standing across from her.

"You can't keep doing this," Dani said angrily. "I have my own life to live and I'm not going to let you ruin it for me. Get over Malfoy! He doesn't like you."

"You agreed to help me!" Katie protested.

"Not every second of every day! And at first I thought it might be possible, but it turned out that there's absolutely no hope for you! I'm sorry!" Dani snapped, looking up at her finally to glare.

"But we were going out for so long and suddenly he dumped me for no reason! I just don't understand what I did wrong." Katie said.

"You're not going to find out by sending me to pretend to be you!" Dani said, shaking her head. "Now I'm going to my dorm and I'm going to sleep. I can't possibly have fun any more tonight."

"Dani, I'm sorry," Katie said, reaching out as her twin sister turned and began walking away. "Wait."

"What for?" Dani asked coldly, pausing momentarily but not turning around.

"Maybe... this wasn't for Draco." Katie said slowly. "It was more for you."

Dani spun around, eyes narrowed in a question.

"I mean, I didn't know how else to approach you. If I needed something it would be understandable and when Draco broke up with me it was the perfect opportunity. I'm sorry for doing this, but I wanted to get closer to you again." Katie whispered the last part and stared at the ground, not wanting to see Dani's face.

Dani couldn't believe her ears. Katie had wanted to get closer to her?

"You..."

"I loved swapping places so much and I'm sorry, but I really loved being part of your life again. Until we swapped places, I had no idea who you had a crush on." Katie explained.

"Katie, _you're_ the one who rejected me when I wasn't sorted into Slytherin." Dani pointed out quietly.

"There isn't really anything I can do except say I'm sorry." Katie murmured.

"You're right," Dani said quietly. "But I'll have to get back to you on whether it's enough."

*

Harry stood in the Great Hall in disbelief. Had he honestly just seen what he thought he had seen? But why would Dani trade places with Katie when she had said yes to going with him and hadn't sounded uncomfortable with it?

Unless...

With a frown, Harry hoped that what he thought wasn't true, but it seemed to work perfectly with everything that had happened.

When he had first asked her she must have gone off and asked Katie to swap with her, so it had to be Katie who had said yes in an enthusiastic way. Then it had probably been Katie that he was first walking to the Great Hall with, meaning Dani had run up and dragged her away to swap places again. Then, after that Katie swapped back and he had been with that twin until just a few moments ago when the plan was revealed.

But why? Why would Dani say yes to him if she didn't even like him at all and didn't want to go with him? She could have just gone with someone else if she'd said no to him.

Then again, what if she liked the same guy as Katie did?

Harry quickly shut down that idea, though, because he knew Katie liked Malfoy and Dani absolutely hated him.

Sighing, he walked over to get a drink. He couldn't understand why Dani would subject herself to having to dance with Malfoy just so that she could get out of dancing with him.

*

Dani was up in her dorm before anyone else got there. Taking off her new silver dress and the mask, she got into her pyjamas before crawling into bed and hiding under the covers. She could imagine the pain Harry was feeling when he realised he'd been ditched by her and just wanted to fall asleep so she didn't have to think about it any more.

Suddenly remembering something, Dani groaned and rolled over to shove her head into her pillow. Bri was probably going to go to Paris with Dayn, who knows why, which meant she wouldn't be around to give advice after a while.

What was with suddenly deciding to up and go to Paris, anyway? It's not like there was anything interesting there.

Except, you know, the Eiffel Tower and stuff.

Dani had only just managed to begin drifting off to sleep when there was a tap on her window and she grumbled under her breath, lifting her head to look over and see whether she should be bothered to open it. She hated getting mail late at night.

Blinking her eyes rapidly, she sat up properly and stared at the window in shock.

Somehow coming to her senses, she stood and walked over quickly, opening the window and shivering as a gust of wind blew in.

"You're not an owl." she mumbled, frowning at Malfoy. He was sitting on his broom and had a smirk on his face, still wearing the suit and mask from the ball.

"Nice pyjamas." he said in amusement. Dani glanced down at herself and sighed when she realised her pants and top had pygmy puffs printed all over them in different colours.

"Shove off, Malfoy." she said, moving to close the window.

"Don't you want to have a breath of fresh air?" he asked, putting out a hand to hold the window open.

"I've had one." Dani said bluntly, before trying to close the window again, not even caring if she slammed it on his hand in the process.

"Look, I'm just trying to be nice," Malfoy said, his grip on the window unfortunately very strong. "You didn't seem to be having fun tonight so I wanted to try and brighten your evening with a broom ride."

"Why would that brighten my evening?" Dani asked with a frown.

"Come on," Draco sighed and lowered his voice, as if there was anyone around to hear what he said. "I know you like me."

"What on earth gave you that idea?" she asked with a slight shake of her head.

"You don't have to deny it any more! I'm not going to reject you!" Malfoy said, honesty showing in his eyes. Dani blinked in confusion.

"Are you trying to tell me you like me?" she asked slowly.

"Exactly!" he said, grinning. "I only ever dated Katie because she was identical to you and I couldn't go out with you since you were in Gryffindor. But now that you like me, we can just go out secretly and no one will ever know! My reputation will be kept safe and-"

Clenching her teeth together angrily, Dani used his distraction to slam the window down, feeling incredibly satisfied as she heard the yelp of pain that came from him as his hand got jammed in between.

'Oops', she mouthed at him.

"Monroe!" he yelled in anger, his fingers moving slightly as he tried to pull his hand out. "That hurt!"

"Sorry? I can't hear you." Dani replied, shaking her head and frowning.

"Yes you can! Open the window!" Malfoy demanded.

"Only if you tell me what possible reason you had for using my sister in the despicable way you have!" Dani screamed, using the palm of her hand that wasn't holding the window to smash against his fingers. He gave another yelp and tried to twist them away but she pushed the window down harder on his hand.

"I'm sorry! For goodness sake, you're mental! Let go of the window!" Malfoy continued.

"I don't hear a reason, Malfoy! Once I do, I _might_ let you go!" Dani snapped.

"It's because I like you! I've always wanted to go out with you but because I couldn't I went out with her. What would people think if I'd approached a Gryffindor anyway?" Malfoy said quickly, desperate to have his hand released.

"So this is all about your reputation? Poor Malfoy! What would your _father_ say!?" Dani mocked.

"Oh, as if you don't know what I'm talking about! I've only told you I like you because I know you like me too now. And why haven't you said anything to anyone? Because I'm a Slytherin!" Malfoy snapped.

"I still don't know where you got the idea that I like you Malfoy, because I don't! The only reason I ever kissed you was because I was pretending to be Katie, _for_ Katie!" Dani explained.

"Just let go of the window so we can talk about this in a mature way!" Malfoy whined, and Dani looked down at his fingers again to see that they were bright red and looked a bit swollen in places.

"Fine. But when I say to leave, you leave." Dani said, staring at him for a moment longer before letting go of the window.

He took out his hand immediately and winced, rubbing it to try and get the circulation going again.

"Can I come in? It's a bit hard to stay on the broom with only one hand." he said quietly. With a roll of her eyes, Dani stepped back from the window.

"No wonder you've never caught the snitch." she sighed.

He only narrowed his eyes before carefully climbing in through the window, leaning his broom against the wall and then turning to face her.

"You say you don't like me." he said.

"That's right." Dani nodded.

"I don't believe you." Malfoy shrugged.

"Well how can I prove it to you so that you leave me alone?" Dani asked, folding her arms and raising one eyebrow.

Malfoy was silent for a moment as he thought about it, and then he smirked. Dani frowned, because Malfoy smirking was never a good thing, but she remained silent.

"If you don't like this, I'll believe you." he said, before suddenly stepping forward and kissing her, his undamaged hand holding the back of her head and his other arm twisting around her waist to pull her close to him.

Dani couldn't believe what was happening and tried to get away at first, knowing that if she gave in to it she would be doing what he wanted. But then she realised the hand on her head was massaging gently and that was it.

Relaxing against him, she tentatively kissed back.

Slowly, Dani realised she might actually like him. As long as he kept acting in the nice way that he had been recently, which could very well be his true self. He might have just been horrible to her in the past because he couldn't have her, which... actually made her heart skip a beat.

Moving his lips to just beside her ear, Malfoy whispered, "I knew it."

"Don't rub it in, you jerk." Dani mumbled, keeping her eyes closed and dropping her head onto his shoulder. She noticed her hands were buried in his hair and blushed before slowly taking them out and dropping them to around his waist.

Malfoy shifted his feet to get more comfortable and slipped his mask off to drop it onto the floor. Dani sighed, wondering how she had never realised how good it felt to be in his arms until now.

Probably because she had never been in his arms like this before.

Hearing voices approaching from outside the door, she suddenly pushed away from him, eyes wide in fear.

"You have to leave." she said.

"As you wish." he said with a smile, walking over to the window and picking up his broom. "Are you going to give me an answer now or later?"

"An answer?" she asked, confused.

"Will you go out with me?" he asked, looking over his shoulder at her.

Dani stared at him in horror, her mind thinking up a million excuses why she couldn't possibly do that. He had a point – her friends wouldn't accept him.

"Secretly, of course." he added after a moment of watching her terror.

Swallowing nervously, Dani was rushed into saying something when she heard the door handle turn.

"Yes. Now _go!_"

In an instant, he had slipped out of the window and flown off on his broom, disappearing into the night.

The door opened and Jackie walked in first, holding Bri up.

"Help!" the brunette exclaimed. Dani quickly walked over to help Jackie move Bri over to her bed.

"What happened?" she asked.

"The punch was spiked." Jackie explained in a grumble as they lay Bri down on her bed. She was already fast asleep.

"Really? A lot of people are going to wake up with headaches then." Dani said.

"I reckon!" Jackie shook her head and then pulled off her shoes. "How cool was it when Dumbledore made everyone wear the same clothes?"

"That was awesome." Dani smiled. "The dresses are gorgeous."

"I know!" Jackie smiled, moving to put her shoes beside her bed and then stopping, looking down at something lying on the floor in between hers and Dani's beds. "Is this yours?" she asked in an innocent sounding voice before picking it up and holding it out to her friend.

Dani looked over to see what she was holding and gasped, her eyes widening in shock.

"Um, well, not really." she stuttered, her face going red. It was Malfoy's mask. The jerk had left it there!

"Feel like sharing who exactly paid a visit to our dorm?" Jackie asked with a sly smile.

"No one! I... stole it from Harry." Dani lied unconvincingly.

"Not true. I walked back with him and he was still wearing his mask. In _fact_, did you two have a fight? He looks ready to kill himself." Jackie frowned.

"Oh my gosh!" Dani made a move to the door but Jackie pulled her back.

"I am not letting you go barging into the boys dorm only wearing your pyjamas." she said firmly. "Whatever you have to say to him can wait until tomorrow."

"No it can't!" Dani whined, but Jackie remained firm. Leading Dani over to her bed, she sat her down before sitting beside her.

"Spill." she ordered.

"No." Dani said.

"If you don't tell me who owns this mask, so help me I will go around all the guys in every house until I find someone who is missing one." Jackie snapped.

"Fine! It's Malfoys'. But before you go assuming anything, he was only here because he wanted to gloat about something." Dani said, standing up and moving over to her own bed again.

Jackie threw the mask at her and it landed on her bed.

"He is such a jerk." she said. "Can't he leave you alone for even one day?"

"I don't want to talk about this," Dani said, getting into her bed again. "I'm going to sleep."

Jackie slowly nodded before going to the bathroom to finish getting changed. Dani lay down and let out a sigh, closing her eyes and willing herself to go to sleep.


	13. Hushhush

Dani was so tired the next day that Jackie had to wake her up. Thankfully there were no classes because the Professors had been smart and knew that everyone would need a day for recovery.

"Come on, Dani," Jackie said with a sigh, shaking her friend. "Help me! Bri's head hurts and I don't know what to do to help her."

"Go away." Dani shoved her pillow over her head and tried to sleep again, but now that she had been woken she could hear Bri's groaning and it was incredibly distracting.

"Murder me..." came a whimper from Bri.

Suddenly, Dani's mind decided to remind her of something and she squeaked, falling off the side of her bed in shock.

"Are you okay? You didn't get drunk too, did you?" Jackie asked, rushing over to her.

"I wouldn't rule out the possibility just yet," Dani muttered, putting her head in her hands. How did she manage to get any sleep last night knowing that she'd kissed Malfoy willingly and then _told him she'd go out with him!?_

Maybe she really was drunk. But she didn't have a headache.

"Well is there anything we can do about Bri's headache?" Jackie asked.

"Please, just stop talking." Bri mumbled. Her hands were pressed over her eyes tightly.

"I'll go see if any of the guys know some useful spells to get rid of hangovers." Dani said, standing up and grabbing a jacket before leaving the room and going downstairs.

The first person she saw was, coincidentally, Harry. As soon he spotted her he turned away though and she sighed. Ron was just walking down as well and Dani moved over to him quickly.

"Hey, do you know how to get rid of a hangover?" she asked him.

"You're hungover?" Ron asked in shock, eyes widening.

"No, Bri is. But do you know any spells for it?" Dani continued. He frowned and then shook his head.

"Nah, sorry, but Seamus does," Ron half turned around again. "I'll go get him."

"Thanks." Dani said as Ron disappeared upstairs.

"You could have said no. I wouldn't have gotten mad." Harry said quietly. Dani slowly turned to face him and her heart sunk when she saw that they were the only people in the common room.

"Said no to what?" she asked cautiously.

"To going with me to the ball." Harry folded his arms and stared at the floor.

"Harry," Dani took a step towards him. "I didn't-"

"It's alright, I'm just disappointed." Harry shrugged. "See you around, yeah?"

Dani watched in despair as Harry turned and left the common room without a backwards glance. She was thinking about running after him when she suddenly felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to see Seamus.

"You needed a spell for a hangover?" he asked.

"Yeah, Bri got a bit drunk last night." Dani nodded, trying to sound normal but not able to keep the sadness out of her voice. What was she supposed to say to Harry, anyway? I'm sorry I ditched you but now I've come to realise I'm in l- that I _like_ Malfoy?

"Want me to teach it to you or are you gonna bring her down here for me?" Seamus asked curiously.

"I'll go get her." Dani said, turning and walking off. If she tried to do the spell she was sure her sadness would make it fail.

Bringing Bri down was difficult. She complained loudly of the pain and the noise and the light, so halfway down the stairs Dani was tempted to drop her and give up. But she didn't because she knew if their positions were swapped Bri would have done everything she could to make Dani comfortable again.

"Ah, here she is." Seamus said, walking over. Bri whimpered and squeezed her eyes shut tight.

"Make it quick." Dani said. Seamus nodded and pulled out his wand, pointing it at Bri and then muttering the spell. The effect was instantaneous.

"Oh my gosh, I thought for sure you were gonna blow my brains up or something." Bri said, standing up on her own now. "Thanks."

"You're welcome." Seamus said, rolling his eyes and leaving.

"Dani, how was your night last night? I had so much fun! Dayn is so sweet." Bri grinned.

"Um, yeah, my night was okay." Dani shrugged. "Can I get back to you on it, though? I have to go talk to someone."

Bri watched her silently for a moment before frowning. "Did you and Harry fight?"

"I'll tell you all about it later." Dani promised.

Without saying another word, she turned and left the common room.

*

Walking into the Great Hall, Dani swept her eyes around the room quickly in search of Harry. She didn't know where he'd be, but it seemed likely that he would have come to eat breakfast before going anywhere else.

Her eyes widening slightly, Dani saw him sitting across from Ginny and laughing at something she'd just said. A small spark of jealousy flared within her and she tried to smother it. She had no right to be jealous now that she had a boyfriend.

Wow. That was a weird thought.

Walking over to the Gryffindor table anyway, Dani sat down quietly beside Harry, staring at the table and avoiding his eyes as he glanced over at her. His conversation with Ginny abruptly ended and they all looked in different directions.

"I need to talk to you." Dani whispered, still not looking up.

"There's nothing to talk about." Harry replied.

Turning to face him, Dani grabbed his arm. "Harry, please, can we just go somewhere so I can explain?" she begged.

"You don't have to explain anything! I know what happened." Harry said firmly.

"Then you'd know it wasn't my fault." Dani said, studying his face for a reaction. There! Harry frowned and turned away slightly and she knew he didn't know the truth.

"It's okay Dani... you don't have to sugarcoat it-"

"Harry, if you don't come right now I am going to hex you into the Slytherin table." Dani growled threateningly, interrupting him.

Clenching his teeth together, Harry stood and began walking towards the doors. Dani quickly jumped up and followed after him, glad that she would be able to talk to him in private. As cute as Ginny was, she was very dangerous. She didn't need the red-head to find out about what Katie had been doing.

Outside the Great Hall, Dani pulled Harry down an empty corridor before stopping and facing him.

"The day you asked me to the ball Katie had come to speak to me and begged me for help. She wanted to swap places with me so I did and she pretended to be me while I was gone. You asked her at first, and then I said yes when I came back. With me so far?" Dani asked, watching Harry closely. He nodded slightly. "Okay, then when we were going to the ball, Katie ran up and dragged me away, pretending to be me and forcing me to pretend to be her. When I came to swap back I called her Dani just to keep up the pretence. I was with you outside when our clothes changed. But when we went in to dance, do you remember spinning me out so that our fingers hardly touched?"

"Yeah."

"Katie pulled me away and swapped places with me in an instant. I hadn't even been expecting her! But then you were dancing in a different direction and you didn't even see me. I'm so sorry Harry, but that's why and how I came to run up at the end, dragging Katie away again. Do you understand? I wish it hadn't happened!"

Harry was silent for a moment as he took in everything Dani had just said to him, his eyebrows creased slightly in thought. "What did she want you to swap places for?"

"She thought for some strange reason that I'd be able to make Malfoy like her again since what happened with Dayn, but obviously it didn't work." Dani shrugged in explanation.

"I'm sorry for jumping to conclusions. I thought you didn't even want to go with me in the first place." Harry murmured, looking down at his shoes.

"At least we're okay again, yeah?" Dani asked with a small smile.

"Yeah... Dani?" Harry glanced up and then looked down again, his face slightly red in embarrassment as he shuffled his feet.

"What is it?" Dani asked curiously.

"Well," he shrugged. "I've just... liked you a lot for a while... and I was wondering if you wanted to go out with me?" His voice was so quiet at the end that Dani had to lean forward to hear what he was saying, but a small smile appeared on her face when she realised he was asking her out.

"Harry-" she began to say happily, but then stopped, her face paling and her smile fading.

"Y-yeah?" Harry asked, still staring down at his feet and not noticing Dani's look of horror.

How could she say no to the boy she'd had a crush on for years? Why on earth had she said yes to that stupid jerk Malfoy?

"Look... the thing is..." Dani took a deep breath and let it out again, wincing as Harry looked up and finally noticed her discomfort.

"You don't like me like that. Okay, sure. Fine. That's fine." Harry began nodding quickly.

"No! Harry, I do! Which is why... I have to say that in five minutes, my answer will be a yes. But for now, it's a no." Dani rushed out her words.

Harry blinked and then frowned.

"No?"

"Promise me you won't move? Stay here until I get back, okay?" she asked desperately, grabbing his shoulders.

"Where are you going?" Harry asked cautiously.

"To sort out my life within five minutes so that I can say yes to you!" Dani exclaimed, before flashing him a grin and running back to the Great Hall.

Harry still wasn't sure what had just happened, but decided it would be best to wait for her to come back so that she could explain again.

Dani didn't even stop to think about what she was doing as she ran over to the Slytherin table, her heart pounding with adrenaline. She spotted Draco quickly and made her way over, skidding to a stop behind where he was sitting.

"I have to talk to you." she burst out quickly. Draco slowly stood up, smirking as his friends looked at what was happening in confusion, and faced her with one eyebrow raised.

"I thought we were meant to keep all this hush-hush, but if you want to make it public-" Draco began saying slyly.

"I'm dumping you." she snapped, interrupting him before grinning uncontrollably and running from the Great Hall again.

Draco was left to stand there in shock.


End file.
